


The Last Number

by Shariaber



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Eventual Romance, F/M, Meta, Slow Burn, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 35,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22991284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shariaber/pseuds/Shariaber
Summary: In a world where the number on your head is equal to the number of people who loves you, when you hit zero, you become black and white and lose all feelings. Marinette's number dropped down to a One after being betrayed by her classmates and their lies after the arrival of Lila Rossi. Even Adrien, the only person who stayed by her side to the end, was forced to utter the words to her, that he hated her. She didn't know how she still has a One, when even she doesn't love herself anymore. So when she only has one person who loved her left, she decided to not make a sound and become the complacent girl that they wanted. When they arrive in Gotham, the most dangerous city in the world, will she be able to keep her number?
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 386
Kudos: 1935





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So basically, this is an AU where everyone has a number on their forehead based on how much someone loves you and how many people love you. When someone personal (i.e a close friend or family members, loved ones, etc) says I hate you, the number goes down, and they can't take it back. When the number becomes zero, the person loses all color, turning them black and white, and loses their emotions as well. Which is why Sabine, who had a zero before the took in Marinette, can't love her and increase her number. Hope this clears anything up.

Marinette tried to stop the tears from falling, but when she looked up and saw their faces, they streamed down her face. 

“Please, no,” she whispered. She clenched her eyes shut, and plugged her ears, as if that would stop the number from going down. 

“I’m so sorry Marinette,” Adrien whispered. “I-i don’t want to do this but-”

“Hurry up Adrien!” Lila said, pushing him on the back, making him move forward. 

“C’mon Adrien! You’re just telling her the truth!” Alya stated, glaring at the crying girl on the ground. 

Everyone around them started cheering him on, not caring about the crying girl or how uncomfortable the boy looked. If anything, he looked more miserable than she did. 

“Adrien!” Lila hissed, growing impatient.

The boy shot her a glare, but it quickly withered when she held his gaze. Even though he would never do such a thing, he knew how the Italian girl was able to sink her claws into his father. He, like many others around them, fell prey to Lila’s lies and basically worshipped the ground she walked on. Adrien never understood how, as his father cared for her more than he ever cared for his own son. 

“Marinette,” he said, his voice breaking as he called out her name. “I hate you.”

Everyone basically cheered when she screamed and clutched her head, sobbing. Adrien looked away, not wanting to see what would happen the cheers turned into angry mutterings. Looking back, he was relieved to see Marinette still alive, but no longer conscious. 

“Why isn’t she colorless?” Lila scoffed, flipping her hair. She bent down and moved Marinette’s bangs out of the way and gasped when she saw there was a number one on her forehead. “There’s a one!”

“Maybe we didn’t break her enough yet,” Alya sneered, kicking the small girl on her side. “She probably still loves herself.”

“Pity. I wanted to go to Gotham without her,” Lila said, starting to cry. “She’s going to ruin the trip!”

“It’s alright Lila. We won’t let her ruin our trip,” Rose assured, rubbing her back. 

“That’s right. After all, you worked really hard on the trip, didn’t you?” Nino said, wrapping an arm around the girl and leading her away. 

“I’m sorry Marinette,” Adrien whispered to her. He slowly picked her up and started carrying her towards her house. Not that it was much better than where she currently was. 

~

“What did she do this time?” Sabine sighed, opening the door to let Adrien in. 

“I-i didn’t want to,” Adrien whispered. “B-b-but she made me.”

Sabine understood what he meant immediately, and went closer to look at the number on the girl’s forehead.She let out a quivering breath when she saw the number one there. 

“Who-?” 

“I don’t know. T-they made me say it. I swear I didn’t want to,” Adrien promised, tears falling from his eyes.

“I know sweetheart. Just, go home, and you better hurry. It’s going to storm soon,” Sabine said, closing the door behind him. She looked down at the girl in her arms and prayed for her. Lifting her up gently, she carried the girl upstairs and tucked her in bed. “I’m sorry Marinette.”

She wished she could help the small girl, she was so sweet. Marinette didn’t deserve any of this to happen. After taking the girl into her foster home, Sabine had learned of the girl’s past and cried. When her older brother died, her parents had blamed her and told her that they didn’t love her. Obviously her number went down drastically. 

So when Sabine and Marinette came to her house in Paris, far from Gotham, she did all she could to support her. So while the number on her head was low, she was happy to see it start to grow again when she started to adjust to her new life. And while she could never love the girl, she tried her best to show it. 

Sabine worried about her, not knowing what would happen to the little girl when she would go back to her hometown.

~

Marinette groaned when she fell, landing in a puddle. If her clothes weren’t soaked from the rain before, they were now. She didn’t even bother getting back up on her feet, deciding to just sit there and hope that the pain would go away.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, curling in on herself. 

“It’s fine, it was my fault,” the man replied. He frowned when he realized that she was just sitting there. “Do you need any help?”

“No. I-i should probably just stay here. Cause less damage that way,” Marinette said, not bothering to look up.

“That’s not a good thing. Here.” The man bent down and helped her get to her feet. It was then that he saw how tiny she was. She couldn’t be more than five feet tall, and looked underfed. She had several bruises on her arm, and wasn’t properly dressed for the downpour they were in. “What happened?”

“I-i got left behind by my class,” she answered. “It was my fault though. I should have been paying attention.”

“It’s not your fault. Your class should have been paying attention. Do you need help getting out of the rain?”

“It’s alright,” Marinette assured. “I can walk there. The hotel isn’t that far from here.”

“What’s the name of the hotel?” 

“The Gotham Hotel.”

“That’s miles from here!” the man exclaimed. “My car is just around the corner. I’ll give you a ride. What’s your name anyway?”

“Marinette,” she answered, taking small steps as she followed the man. She wasn’t sure if she should follow the man. After all, she was in Gotham. She remembered the times in which she learned her lesson to be less trusting to other people, to be wary of everyone around her. While in Paris, she forgot those lessons and opened up. It was only after Lila had showed up again that she remembered the rules ingrained into her brain since the moment she was born. But it had been too late. She was weak.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Damian.”

~

He didn’t know what made him stop. He didn’t know why he didn’t grow mad at the girl for bumping into him. Maybe it was how tiny she was. Or how she didn’t even move to get out of the water. Or the fact that she was so quiet he could barely hear her even though he was standing right next to her. 

What he did know was that he was going to help her. He wasn’t sure how, but getting her out of the rain seemed like a good start. He opened the door to let her in, not minding the wet seats. He went over and opened his own door and got in, starting the car and turning up the heat.

“Warm?” he asked, looking at the shivering girl next to him.

“Thank you,” she replied. 

“So why did your class leave you behind in the most dangerous city in Gotham?” Damian asked.

“We’re on a trip from Paris. Mr. Wayne is sponsoring us. I’m sure it was an accident,” Marinette said quietly, not making eye contact with him. “They can be a little forgetful at times.”

Like the time they forgot who their everyday Ladybug was. Or how they forgot her birthday to go to a concert. Or how they forgot Marinette knew both Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale when Lila claimed that she helped both of them.

“That’s not a good reason. They don’t sound very nice to me,” Damian stated. “How could your friends forget you?”

“I never said they were my friends,” Marinette muttered. 

“You don’t have any friends in that class?” 

“I have one, but he’s...not in a good position to defy the class.”

“Well, here we are,” Damian said, pulling up to the hotel. “Maybe I’ll see you again.”

“Thank you. And sorry for bothering you,” Marinette said, opening the door and sliding out. 

Damian watched her walk into the hotel and growled as he saw a group of kids walk up to her and push her down, laughing. He pulled out his phone and started a call, never taking his eyes off the girl. 

“Sup Demon?”

“I need you to look someone up for me. She’s here on a class trip that dad’s sponsoring. Her name is Marinette,” Damian stated. 

“Oooh, got a crush?” Tim teased. 

“No, just a thirst for vengeance.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the chapters for this story will be shorter than my other one. I feel like this way, I'd be able to write it in such a way that would benefit the story and how I plan to write it compared to the other story. I hope you understand because the background of each story is different and that's why I decided to make this decision.

Marinette sat down on her bed, looking out the window, deep in thought. How long had it been since she had last been here? When was the last time she thought about Gotham? She wasn’t even sure why she submitted her paper to Bruce Wayne’s Educational Association, BWEA for short. It was just a last minute decision, she wasn’t going to do it. She just uploaded and decided not to submit it when she accidently pressed the button and watched in horror as it sent her a confirmation email. 

And two weeks later, Ms. Bustier announced where they were going.

She looked across the skyline, watching the lights glow in the darkness. She stood up and walked out to her balcony, breathing in the air. She choked and tears filled her eyes. She had forgotten what Gotham smelled like, and the foul air, so different from the one in Paris, made her reminisce her oldest memories there before she was whisked away at eight to France. The smell of smoke, salt, and piss, the natural smell of Gotham. The moment that person started to appear in her mind, she shook her head. She didn’t deserve to think about him, it was her fault that he died. 

She leaned across the railing, focusing on a single point to try and force the tears away, believing that if she focused hard enough that they wouldn’t fall. It was only when the object she was staring at on the roof across from her moved that she jumped back, not sure of what she saw. She didn’t take her eyes off the figure, seeing it get bigger. The closer it got, the more Marinette started to take steps back. 

Marinette looked away for a brief moment to go through her bag and retrieve the iron bo staff that Sabine made her take. Not that she was complaining. She remembered how bad Gotham was, and took it without complaint. When she turned back to look at the figure it was gone, but she didn’t lower her guard. Her grip tightened on the bo staff when someone landed on her balcony. 

She silently cursed when she realized that she should have closed it. 

“What do you want?” she growled. 

~

Damian couldn’t help himself when he saw the girl during his patrol. She was on her balcony, staring across the city. He stopped on the roof across from her. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to see him, no one really did unless they were Gotham born and raised. So imagine his surprise when she caught sight of him.

He watched as fear crossed her face, so he did what he thought was best. He would try to calm her and tell her that he meant no harm. He started to walk over and watched as she started to head back into her room, never once taking her eyes off him. When she bent down and went through her bag, he swung over with his grappling hook. He landed, and was surprised to see her standing there with a bo staff. She was no longer the scared and small girl he met in the rain. Instead, she was gripping it with no fear in her eyes, but with anger and confidence. 

“What do you want?” she growled. 

Damian paused, making sure that it was the same girl from before. Her quiet voice was replaced with cold fury, no longer like a bird singing. 

“I wanted to apologize,” he said. “I scared you earlier and knew that you didn’t know who I am.”

“And who are you?” she asked, analyzing him. He was buff, and a lot taller than her, but so was most people. The way he held himself with confidence meant that he had faced death and survived. 

“I’m Robin, part of Batman’s team,” he said.

“You’re not Robin,” Marinette frowned, raising the bo a little higher. “Robin should be older. There’s no way he would still be the same age when I left.”

“Older?”

“He should be in his mid to late twenties after all these years,” Marinette spat out. 

“I’m not sure how long you’ve been gone,” Robin said slowly, ”but there’s been three Robin’s after the original one. When there is a new successor, they give up Robin and take on a new persona.”

Marinette hesitated. She hadn’t looked up anything Gotham related since she left, so she couldn’t tell if that was true or not. In the end, she decided to trust him and lowered her bo, but never let her grip loosen.

“Why would you do this?” she whispered. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I know Gotham. No one from Gotham would ever care about scaring some girl on her balcony,” she stated.

“I’m sorry, but seeing as how you’re in a hotel, I highly doubt you know anything about Gotham,’ Robin said, frowning. He flinched when her glare hardened. 

“Hah,” she snorted. “You’re telling me I know nothing about Gotham? Let me tell you something. Just because I’m staying in a hotel, does not mean that you know better than I do. After all, judging from your accent, I’d say you’re the one who doesn’t know anything about Gotham. You’re not even from here!”

“What do you -?”

“Thank you for assuring me that I’m not in danger at the moment. But I’d like to be alone. Now. So you can leave the way you came in,” Marinette said, turning around. She didn’t bother checking to see if he left or not, but knew he was gone when she felt the wind stop as he closed the door behind him.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief, but quickly started berating herself.

How could I do that? Now Robin’s going to hate. Why does everyone around me always leave? I promised myself that I wouldn’t go back to how I was before. That I’d change in Paris and I’d be the little angel. That I’d listen and follow orders this time. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.

Marinette repeated that until she eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.

~

“Just go on without me,” Marinette whispered, her voice hoarse. 

Apparently, she was immune to being out of the rain yesterday and had fallen ill. Her nose was stuffy, and her throat burned. Her bed was full of used tissues and when she didn’t show up for roll call before they left, Ms. Bustier went up to check up on her.

“We can always reschedule it for another day,” Ms. Bustier frowned. “After all, you’re the one who got us on this trip.”

“It’s fine Ms. Bustier. I don’t want to ruin everyone else’s trip because I’m sick,” Marinette said. But they both knew the reason why she didn’t want to go with them. Sabine had filled her in before they left for Gotham and Ms. Bustier understood. She couldn’t do anything to help the girl, but she could lessen the amount of damage they did.

“Alright Marinette,” Ms. Bustier sighed. “I think it’s best for us to leave now before they...get any ideas in their head.”

Marinette nodded and watched as her teacher left the room. She really did want to go to Wayne Enterprises, but knew that if it was rescheduled or delayed then the class would act, hurting her again. So she gave up her losses and decided to stay there. She could only imagine what kind of lies Lila would come up with.

Marinette snorted at the thought, but immediately regretted it when her throat burned and she started coughing violently. Still, it would have been worth seeing Lila being caught in the act when she’d caught wind of what she was saying.

Just imagining how Lila saying she met Damian at the Wayne Gala when they were both seven would entice harsh punishment from the Waynes. She’d seen just how cruel they could be as soon as they were mentioned in the press. Anything that was defamation or slander to their name, and they were faced with a lawsuit. 

She then shook her head, making her stop thinking about the what ifs. She was back in Gotham, and it had never been a place for dreamers. 

Even though she’d only be back for a month, she had to remember everything if she wanted to survive. So it was time to say goodbye to the dreamer.

~

“Where’s your class rep?” 

Dick frowned, looking through his files to make sure that she didn’t change her appearance from the time she sent the essay to now. But when he didn’t recognize anyone he looked up to the teacher.

“She’s caught a cold,” she explained. “But she insisted that we come anyway.”

Dick nodded and wrote it down in his notes. Bruce would be wanting to hear about it. He was interested in meeting the girl after all, to talk to her about all the projects she’s done in Paris and maybe start an international one.

“She’s such an attention whore,” Lila said, scoffing. “I can’t believe she would fake a cold.”

“It’s not that easy to fake,” Adrien said, but no one seemed to hear him. And if they did, they ignored him. 

“We need to figure out who the last person is,” Alya hissed. “That way I never have to see her again. After all, Zeros don’t get education.”

“I can’t believe there’s still someone out there that loves her. How could they?” Kim scoffed. 

“She probably lied to them, and tricked them into loving her,” Rose stated. “I couldn’t believe she did that to us as well. I thought she was so nice.”

Dick frowned and wrote that down as well. The last time he checked, Marinette had quite a large number on her forehead. And her essay included how nice her class was and their participation in the many projects she had. Yet his first impression of them was that they didn’t like- no they hated her, and he wanted to know what happened. 

He looked around at them and tried to assess the situation. It seemed like they all follow one person, an Italian person. If he remembered correctly, Marinette wrote a letter to Bruce a month after they got accepted, asking if they could include the new student that just transferred. 

“Well, moving on. If you follow me, we’ll get started with the tour.

~

Marinette went down to the hotel gym. She knew she shouldn’t be doing anything while she was sick, but she had to prepare. She might be overexaggerating the whole Gotham situation. The last memory she had of the place wasn’t a good one. And since she was a child, it made things seem a lot worse. But still, it had been years since she was last here, and she didn’t know the situation, so she was getting ready. 

Gotham doesn’t like to wait. People here acted immediately without thought. So she had to be ready to run or fight. Luckily, Sabine knew several forms of martial arts, and taught her, which was how she knew how to use the bo staff. And Marinette knew how to run. Ever since the moment she was born, her brother taught her to run. 

But since she moved to Paris, she slacked off on that. Which is why she was on the treadmill, pressing several buttons to get to the speed she thought was an acceptable level. It was a bit difficult at first as she hadn’t run in a long time, but she remembered all the techniques she learned from before, the ones that he taught her. It was all ingrained in her, as well as the burning in her legs. She had grown used to it. 

So when she didn’t stop running until she knew the class would be back, she didn’t complain when her muscles cramped up. Marinette sucked it up and walked all the way back up to her room, going up eighteen flights of stairs. 

It didn’t matter to her anyway. If she couldn’t handle it here, she’d never be able to run away from actual danger. Or her demons. She had to outrun them until they couldn’t catch up to her anymore. Because it seemed like they always did.


	3. Answers

So some of you did have questions about this AU, and I'll answer it here. Sorry if it wasn't the update you were looking for.

1\. Does it still count if you don't mean it? Yes. When I thought of this AU, there was a lot of technicalities and I realize that. What I had in mind when I wrote this is how some things stay broke. That there are some things that never goes away. An example would be if you were in an argument with someone you care about and they say something really harsh, that hits you right in the core. Obviously it was in the heat of the moment, and they probably didn't mean it. But the damage was done. Even though you might have forgiven them, you'll still remember it and keep thinking about it. (or at least I do)

2\. Can you take it back? No you cannot. Once it's said, there's no taking it back as that would be one of my technicalities. The example in question one kinda goes into this one as well. You cannot really say something really harsh and be like, never mind. 

3\. Is there no Miraculous? This one really wasn't a question, but someone pointed it out, and I was going to try to involve them in this AU, but what I have in mind for this story doesn't work well with Miraculous. This story is going to be kinda dark (depending on how well I write it), and without spoiling anything, it wouldn't work if Marinette has someone encouraging her the whole time she's not in a good mood. I didn't realize that I wasn't going to involve them until the second chapter, and I thought about it and they don't fit.

3\. How does it work? The closer you are to someone the more the number is affected. In Marinette's case, when her parents said it to her, her number dropped a lot because of her relationship to them, they're family. But it only works with people you have a close relationship with. So it doesn't work with random people. You need to have a personal connection to them. So since Marinette never had a personal connection to Lila (they were never friends and was never close to each other), all Lila did was manipulate the rest of the people around her to hate her and say it.

4\. Why doesn't Tom and Sabine count? Once you hit zero, you become a Zero, you lose all color and become black and white. And since no one loves them, they're unable to process emotion. So while Sabine does care for Marinette, she can't love her. Also, I didn't really mention Tom, I wasn't sure if I was going to include him or not. We'll see in the later chapters.

5\. What kind of love counts? Any kind of love. It also doesn't have to be "love" necessarily as it comes in many different shapes and forms. It can also be a general liking towards someone, there's familial love, romantic love, platonic. They don't need to say it, as that's kind of the magic. The amount you love someone will automatically increase their number. It also goes with decreasing their number, so if you start to kind of dislike a person, their number will decrease as well, until it hits 1 for that specific person, and then disappearing completely when they say "I hate you." For example, if I was friends with someone, let's say my number for them was a 10. But if I start to dislike them overtime, then the number will decrease to 9, 6, 2, then 1. I can leave it at one and not tell them that I hate them, but I can also tell them and turn my number into a zero. If I was the last person to tell them that, then they would become a Zero. But if there are other people who like them, then they just lose my number. There are other reasons why it might be a 1 as well, but we'll get into that as the story goes on. 

If you do have any more questions, let me know and I'll answer them for you. Also sorry if my explanations are kinda confusing, I get it and I'm sorry.


	4. Chapter Three

It wasn’t difficult for Tim to figure out everything about the girl Damian was interested in. What did surprise him was that there was nothing about her before she was fostered in Paris. After that everything about her was like an open book. But he had no idea what happened to her family, where she was born or any information before that. 

He went deep. Several mugs of coffee and a sleepless night, but it was futile. Nothing before Paris showed up. But what he read recently, especially with Dick’s concern almost made him hunt down the class and adopt the girl. 

“What do you have on her?” Damian asked, plopping down on the chair next to him. 

“Nothing you couldn’t find yourself,” Tim answered, sliding a file towards him. “I was only able to find things after she was fostered in Paris. Before that, there’s nothing. It’s like she just popped into existence. No birth records, school records, anything.”

“How is that possible?” he asked, going through the files. 

“I’m not sure. But what I do know is that right now, she’s not happy. Her most recent medical records indicate that she has a One on her forehead. And no one knows who the last person is.”

“A one?” Damian yelled. “How?”

“Her number used to be in the thousands. One of the highest numbers in Paris. But then a girl transfered into her school and her number went down. Rapidly,” Tim stated. 

“So she’s being bullied and no one’s there to stop it?” 

“Her school files indicate that she filed multiple bullying reports, and her teacher has requested that she changed classes, but the principal denied it.”

“She didn’t show up today either, right?” Bruce said, walking towards them.

“No. Her teacher said she was sick,” Dick answered, having just entered the Batcave as well.

“I’m not surprised. She spent a long time in the rain when I met her yesterday and when she fell into a puddle, she was fine there. Like she was used to it,” Damian said. “She said that she would stay there. So she could cause less damage. Said that she doesn’t have friends in the class either.”

“Perhaps we should give Gordon a tip-off,” Bruce said. “So the class can get investigated.”

“Not sure that would work,” Dick said. “I gave them the tour today and they looked really close. Like, ‘if you separate us be prepared to die’ close. The teacher didn’t do much, but distracted them when they tried to talk about the class rep. And there was a boy who didn’t look comfortable with it either. If they got investigated they would probably blame Marinette.”

“Damian. They’re going to be in your class tomorrow. Try to get as much information as you can,” Bruce said. 

His youngest nodded. Normally he’d have refused to do so, or at least throw a fit. But there was something about her that made him agree. That made him want to keep her alive.

“Wait, there’s something else,” Damian said. “Try looking up medical records for her here. In Gotham. I met her as Robin yesterday and I offended her. She replied back saying that I wasn’t from Gotham, so I wouldn’t understand. Because I don’t even have an accent. It seems like she knew some stuff about Gotham. Also wondered why ‘Robin’ never aged after all these years.”

“Interesting,” Tim said, starting to type. 

“Where’s Jason? He’d probably go crazy trying to help the girl,” Dick said, looking around.

“It’s that time of year,” Bruce said quietly. “It’s always been hard for him. Especially when he found out what his parents did to her. Try to go easy on him.”

“See you later Damiboo,” Dick smirked, using the nickname he learned on the tour.

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?”

“There’s a girl from the tour. Been stating that she’s been dating you since you were seven. You’ve fallen in love with her and tried to run away with her because Bruce here wouldn’t accept your relationship,” Dick laughed.

“What makes her think she can get away with stuff like that?” Bruce asked, confused. 

Sure people have created rumors about them, but to go so far as to say that his son loved her since they were seven? At least the others were based on accurate information. 

“See what else she says. We’ll make a list and go off from there. And Tim, try to see if you can find anything on her as well.”

~

Marinette looked up at Gotham Academy. Compared to College Francois Dupant, it was dark and dreary, like the rest of the city. Most of her classmates were a little worried, not sure if they’d like the change. She was used to it though. She grew up in Gotham, and everything was the same. So a school was no different to her.

She looked at her classmates, who seemed to group together and act as if they weren’t going to school and sighed. If they weren’t brave enough to do it, then she would be. Due to her short stature, no one noticed her slip into the crowd of students headed to their class. She was pushed a few times, but it was an accident and she didn’t say anything. She stopped when she got to the class assigned to her and looked inside. The teacher was there already, as was most of the students. They seemed to be lounging around waiting for class to start.

“Excuse me?” she whispered, walking into the classroom. She didn’t look around, but was fully aware that everyone present was looking at her. “I’m the student from Paris.”

“Ah, of course. The little Parisian girl has graced us with her presence,” the teacher teased. He was laid back, and probably didn’t care that much.

Marinette didn’t say anything and kept looking down. The teacher coughed awkwardly and looked around his room, trying to remember which seat was open. 

“You can sit next to the Ice Prince,” he said, pointing to an empty seat in the back. “Hope you don’t get cold eas-”

Marinette sneezed, interrupting him. 

“I guess that answers that,” he sighed. “Just hope you don’t freeze to death back there.”

She nodded and made her way to the seat in the back. She hoped he wasn’t serious about the freezing part. She still wasn’t over her cold yet. She had worn a long sleeve underneath the school’s button up and had the blazer on as well. Not to mention the fleece lined tights she wore under her skirt. And she was still cold.

She tried not to think of the whispers that followed her.

They’re not talking about you. They’re talking about something else. They don’t know about Paris. They don’t know about the rumors. 

She took her seat and glanced up to see some of them looking at her and looked away when they made eye contact.

They’re just curious. They don’t know about your past. They don’t know that it was you nine years ago. It wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault. But it was your fault. It’s always your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault. He died because of you. Your friends turned on you because you weren’t good enough. No one loves you anymore. That’s why you have a one. You always mess things up. That's why you didn’t gray out and turn into a Zero. It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your -

Marinette jumped when someone sat next to her. She still didn’t look up though, not wanting to disturb them. 

“Marinette?”

She blinked, not sure who it was that said it. She never introduced herself to her classmates and she doubted anyone from her class would talk to her. So when she looked up, she was surprised to see who it was.

“Hi,” she said, giving Damian a small smile. 

“I didn’t realize you were going to be in my class,” he said. He gave her a once over and frowned when he saw a bruise near her neck. If it was intentional, they knew to aim for the spot where it can easily be hidden.

“I didn’t know you were in school,” Marinette replied, looking back down. “You’re so tall I thought you were an adult.”

Damian noted how she moved a little further away from him. He was used to it, people were scared of him after all. But he didn’t get the feeling that she didn’t want to be near him because she was scared of him. It was something else, and he wanted to find out. 

“Sup Damian. Who’s our new table partner?”

“Jon, she’s Marinette. From the Paris class.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jon said, holding out his hand. 

Marinette gave him a small smile and shook it. 

“So, what are you doing after school today?” Jon asked, sitting down with them.

“We have a free day, to get used to the city,” Marinette explained. 

“Cool. Want to hang out with us?” 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have something personal to attend to.”

Jon nodded, and looked at the girl and Damian. He was surprised when he first came into the class. She wasn’t sitting at the edge of the table, wasn’t blabbering her mouth off, and wasn’t flirting with them. So when he saw that Damian was talking to her, he knew she was interesting. He then took a good look at the girl and his breath hitched. 

Marinette didn’t seem to notice, but Damian did, giving him a frown as to ask what happened. Jon shook his head and mouthed ‘later’ at him.

Jon looked at the girl again, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. She was broken. Not only mentally, but physically as well. He could see all the broken bones, burns, bruises, fractures that she had in the past. He could see a giant scar running down her back. He knew it looked familiar, but couldn’t tell from where. And her brain, which should be whole, had a giant fracture in it. Which meant that she’s not in a good state of mind at the moment. Sometimes he cursed his power. While it was useful, he wasn’t sure he liked the upgraded X-ray vision, being able to see current and past injuries as well.

But that wasn’t the main thing he was worried about. It was the number One that she was hiding behind her bangs. From what he could tell, she was a sweet girl. So why would no one love her?


	5. Chapter Four

“So Marinette, what’s Paris like?” Jon asked innocently. He noticed how she seemed to shrink away, but answered nonetheless.

“It’s nice,” she replied, not making eye contact with him. “It’s very different from Gotham. It’s...colorful and pretty. But Gotham is also very beautiful depending on where you look.”

“And where should I go to see it?” 

Marinette didn’t respond for a moment. 

“There’s a field,” she answered. She was looking at him, but she was seeing the memory of what it was. As she kept talking, she ended up singing. “Hidden away in the city, there’s towers and buildings. If you know where to look, you will find things real pretty. Grass as soft as feathers, the bright blue sky is always the weather. To find this paradise listen real close. Go to the place avoided by most. Follow the lights way up high, but look closely or you’ll pass it by. Move real fast or you’ll get caught. Duck down in the hole and you’ll find what you sought.”

Damian listened closely and tried to think of where he knew it from. It was on the tip of his tongue, but it wouldn’t come out.

“That’s a pretty song,” Jon said. “Did you make it up?”

“No,” she said quietly, still looking at her memory. “My- someone important used to sing it to me. He would sing it when we needed a place to stay. Sometimes we’d be there for a night, sometimes for a week. It was our secret place.”

“I thought you were from France?” Damian asked, frowning. 

Marinette broke out of her stupor and blinked. 

“I - I was adopted,” she answered. 

You’re so stupid. He didn’t want to know that. He didn’t need to know that. Why are you telling random people your life story? They don’t care about you. He was just asking out of curiosity. Because you messed up and didn’t tell him earlier. It’s your fault he didn’t understand.

“You were born here then?” 

“Y-yeah.”

“I knew you had the accent! I could hear it sometimes, but I wasn’t sure,” Jon said, smiling. “Can I ask what happened to your family?”

“Dead,” Marinette said weakly. “At least the person I care about is dead. And I don’t care about what happened to the others. They were not my family.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” Jon said, his smile dropping.

“You didn’t know. It’s alright.”

“Anyway, where’s the field at?” 

“You have to listen to the song to find out,” Marinette smiled. “Otherwise there’d be no point to it. It’s very difficult to find if you don’t know where it is.”

Jon was about to ask another question, but was stopped when he looked up at someone behind her. Marinette, having grown a sixth sense to danger, curled in just in time brace for the water to spill on her.

“What was that?” Jon asked angrily, now glaring at the person.

“Oops, it was an accident,” Lila stated, pretending to look sad. 

“Accident my ass. You did that on purpose!” 

“She said it was an accident. No need to be so harsh,” Alya scoffed. “Anyway, it’s not like it matters. Marinette deserves it anyway.”

“I can’t believe you Marinette, trying to get attention again,” Nathaniel said sadly. He couldn’t believe he used to have a crush on her.

“How was she trying to get attention when it wasn’t even her fault?” Damian asked. 

“You don’t understand,” Lila said, rolling her eyes. “Marinette is always trying to be the center of attention.”

“Yeah, she’s trying to get attention by having someone pour water on her. Look at her! She’s not even making a scene and you’re saying that she wants attention!” Jon stated. 

Marinette was trying to wipe the water off of her, not noticing how her wet clothes had conformed to her body, even with the extra layers. 

“What a slut,” Alix scoffed. “Look at how she got wet to show off her figure.”

“Shut up,” Jon hissed, slamming his hands down on the table. Damian tried to calm him down, noticing how the table was cracking underneath Jon’s pressure. “That wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t pour the water on her. It’s your fault!”

“You don’t know, do you?” Lila said. “Marinette always acts like the victim, trying to get her number up.”

“What do you mean?” Jon asked.

Marinette seemed to shrink down even smaller. She noticed the stares that everyone was giving her. Some were pitying, while others were interested in what was going to happen next.

This is all your fault. If you didn’t make friends with anyone then none of this would have happened. You’re so weak that some else needs to fight for you. You can’t even defend yourself. You’re pathetic. You always have been. 

Marinette started gasping for breath, to get the voice to stop. She clutched her head and started to think of what to do. To get out of the situation and hide. So she did the only thing she knew how. The only thing she did as a child. She grabbed her bag and ran.

~

She burst through the metal doors, not caring that she was skipping class. She was probably going to get in trouble for it, but that wasn’t on her mind at the moment. Marinette just had to run, and keep running until she couldn’t anymore. She didn’t know where she was going, but her legs seemed to know. It seemed like muscle memory, as she took turns into unknown streets that she seemed to get flashes of. 

It was when she ducked down into a hole and appeared on the other side when she realized that she knew exactly where she was. It was in the field that she told Jon about. She didn’t know why she chose that location until she broke down, crying. 

It was the only place left on Earth where she felt safe. She remembered every single memory she had there. And so she sat there and cried until her tears ran out. When she was done, she left. 

If she had looked around, she would have realized that it was well kept and there was a box tucked away under a bush. It wasn’t well hidden, as if it was taken out and put back multiple times. 

She also didn’t realize that her pigtails had become undone, leaving the ribbons on the ground where she was sitting.

~

“Where’ve you been?” Tim asked cautiously. He wasn’t sure what mood Jason was in, so he decided to play it safe.

“Doesn’t matter,” Jason replied, shooting him a glare. “What have you been doing? Haven’t seen you out of the cave in days.”

“There’s a girl that Bruce wants me to look up,” he answered. He didn’t go into detail, knowing that Jason was sensitive to females and would probably try to protect them despite the risk. 

“Another girl to adopt?” Jason scoffed, sitting down next to Tim. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Dark hair and blue eyes, just like the rest of us non bloods,” Tim smirked. “Damian has an interest in her as well. Apparently she ran off somewhere during school when -”

Tim cut off, having realized his mistake when Jason turned towards him, a look in his eye. 

“When what, Timmy?” 

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Jason sighed and leaned back. 

“What’s so special about this girl anyway? I mean, Demon Spawn showed an interest in her. She has to be something extraordinary.”

“Well, she’s a foster. Demon Spawn thinks she was born here cause she has the accent,” Tim stated. “And from what I could find about her current life isn’t that good.”

“And what about her previous life? Her parents and stuff?”

“That’s the thing. I couldn't find anything on her before she left. Nothing in Gotham or France or anything. It’s like someone deleted everything about her and wanted her to disappear.”

“You want some help?” Jason asked.

“No, I’m good.”

“Don’t say I never offered.”


	6. Chapter Five

When Marinette showed up at the hotel, she apologized to Ms. Bustier for causing a scene. Her teacher understood, but told her that if she had a panic attack again, then to remember to use her phone. 

She went into her room, ignoring the cheers and loud sounds coming from one of her classmates’ rooms. Probably throwing a party. She sighed and closed the door behind her, making sure to double check it was locked or they might try to play a prank on her.

It was then that she noticed she wasn’t alone in the room. 

“Are you alright?” Adrien asked, looking her up and down to make sure she was healthy.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “Thank you.”

Neither of them said anything at the moment, both of them feeling a bit awkward. 

“Why aren’t you at the party?” Marinette asked quietly.

“I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say it,” Adrien said.

“You wouldn’t be the first person who told me that,” Marinette stated, giving him a sad smile. “And it wasn’t your fault. I know what your father is like.”

“If I’d been braver -”

“If you were braver, then you’d be dead,” she said softly. “I should be dead. But someone out there loves me apparently.”

“Someone-? That’s not your number?” Adrien asked. “You don’t love yourself?”

“I stopped loving myself a long time ago Adrien,” she answered. “And it’s not your fault, or the other’s. I stopped loving myself before I came to Paris.”

She took a step closer to him and swept his hangs to the side, looking at the number on his forehead. The number 427 looked back at her until it went up by two.

“Why would you still love me?” Adrien asked, a tear slipping down his cheek. “After all you’ve been through.”

“Because, even if no one loves me, that doesn’t mean I should stop loving others. I never said anything to Lila or Alya. Even after all the things they’ve said and done to me,” Marinette said, sitting down on her bed. “Do you want to know why? It’s because my actions have caused the death of someone before, someone important to me. And I don’t want it to happen again. Even if I think they deserve it, no one truly deserves to die for not being loved.”

“Marinette-”

“That’s why even though I don’t like people, I never tell them. I don’t want people to die not being loved. And if there ever is a chance that they turn into a Zero, I don’t want to be a reason that it happened. Everyone deserves to know that they’re loved, even if they don’t know who it is. Even if they don’t love themselves.”

“What about you Marinette?” Adrien asked. 

“What about me?”

“You don’t love yourself, you just told me. So don’t you deserve to be loved?” 

Marinette didn’t answer him and looked out the window, looking at the citylights. 

“Because Adrien, I was loved once. And they ended up dying. So I don’t deserve to be loved since everyone who does ends up hating me. One way or another, I’m going to be a Zero. It’s just a matter of time.”

~

“Anything new on the girl?” Tim asked, typing.

“Jon verified that she has a one,” Damian answered. “And she’s had many injuries. Past and present. So try to see if there’s anything on her medical records that you can compare with to local hospitals.”

“Anything else?” Jason asked. 

“She said that there’s a pretty place in Gotham.”

Tim and Dick scoffed. 

“What pretty place? How long has it been since she’s been here?” Dick asked.

“I’m not sure. She gave us a hint in the form of a song,” Damian said. “Most confusing thing of my life.”

Jason stood up, his hands on the table to help hold him up as a wave of nausea washed over him. His eyes were wild, darting back and forth.

“She sang a song about a pretty place?” he asked, looking at Damian.

The youngest nodded and they watched as Jason ran out of the room.

~

Marinette was nervous about going back to Gotham after what had happened yesterday. Everyone probably knew that she had a one, and they were probably disgusted to see how much of a coward she was. 

So when she sat down, she wasn’t expecting Jon to start a conversation with her right away. She was also surprised that no one looked at her or whispered anymore. 

“Your hair is down,” Jon pointed out.

“Yeah, I lost my ribbons,” she answered.

“I think it suits you quite nicely.”

“What happened after I left yesterday?” Marinette asked, not looking at him.

Jon paused before answering. “Everyone just kinda of, stared. That Lila girl then went on to say that you ran off to get attention. Then they left the cafeteria. Damian here then told everyone to mind their own business.”

“And they listened to him? What kind of influence does he have?” 

“His father is kinda important,” Jon said. “But don’t worry about it. He doesn’t let it get to his head.”

Marinette nodded.

“Are you alright though? You just bolted,” Jon asked. 

“I’m alright,” she answered, giving him a smile. “They’ve been worse.”

“That’s not a good thing,” Damian frowned, sitting down in his chair. “Just because they’re not as bad as before doesn’t mean that they’re better.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. They’re...not as bad as my previous experiences,” Marinette answered. 

No one said anything and class started, leaving them to their own thoughts.

~

Jason hopped off his bike and basically threw himself in the hole. He scrambled through, as he know longer fit. He was no longer the small boy from before, and every time he went back he was reminded of it.

When he was finally in the small field, he looked around, trying to see if there were any signs besides his own. He paused when he saw the ribbons on the grass, laying there as if someone was teasing him. He walked towards them and knelt down to get a better look. He grabbed one and looked at it. His breath hitched when he saw the little birds stitched in at the bottom. The same birds he had tattooed on his arm when he came back from the Lazarus pits.


	7. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some boring stuff idk talking

Marinette walked out of the school with Jon and Damian, luckily having avoided any contact with her classmates. Though she knew that she couldn’t avoid them forever.

“So, how’s the change? Classes any difficult?” Jon asked. 

“It’s pretty easy. The French have a harder education system. You get graded up to a hundred points. Ours only go up to twenty,” Marinette stated. “And we start professional job schooling earlier.”

“That’s harsh. At least you’ll be passing the classes with a breeze,” he sighed. “Must be nice. So how were your plans after school?”

“Oh, it was fine. I didn’t get to do everything I wanted but it’s alright,” Marinette answered. “It was enough for me.”

“Then are you free to hang today? Damian and I wouldn’t mind taking you around. We know all the best spots,” Jon asked.

“It’s alright. From what I’ve seen of Gotham so far, nothing’s changed at all.”

“Then we’ll show you to the new places.”

“It’s fine. I don’t want to be a bother. Plus Damian looks kind of annoyed,” Marinette whispered. 

They both turned to look at the third boy who seemed to be getting more and more annoyed as time went on. It was clear what was causing it. Lila wasn’t exactly keeping her voice down as she kept talking about her ‘Damiboo.’

“How is she so stupid?” Jon asked. 

“How is the entire class so stupid?” Damian grumbled. “Present company excluded of course.”

Marinette smiled. 

“So are you down to showing Marinette around today?” Jon asked.

“I should be free today. Alfred didn’t say anything about my schedule today,” Damian stated. 

“Anyway, what’s going to happen to her?” Jon asked, nodding his head towards the Parisian group.

“Looking into it at the moment.”

“So, Marinette, was there anything you wanted to try today? New places? Old places?”

“There’s a pizza place on Lincoln and Fifth. Is it still there?” Marinette asked. 

“Alexa’s Pizza? Yeah. One of the best holes in the wall if you ask me,” Jon laughed. “Damian showed it to me though.”

“That’s only because Todd wanted to go there and you spent the day at my house,” he complained. “I don’t get why he likes that place. He only goes to the same seven restaurants.”

“They’re important to him, you know that,” Jon stated. 

“Whatever. We can go there,” Damian sighed. “As long as they won’t be there.”

“Why do you want to go there specifically?” 

“It was the favorite place of someone important to me. So I’d like to go there,” Marinette answered. 

Damian was about to reply when he got a text. Pulling it out he saw that it was to call back immediately.

“Excuse me, I have to go make a phone call,” he said, getting to his feet. When he was in a remote location he called the Batcave. “What is it?”

“Jason came back from wherever he went and kept talking nonsense,” Tim said. “He ripped the files out of my hand and went running off. I think he’s running off and from what I could tell, he’s heading towards your school. So watch out for him.”

“Do I need a weapon?” Damian asked.

“Not sure yet.”

“Got it.”

He turned back around and narrowed his eyes when he saw Lila and the others heading towards Marinette.

~

Marinette was laughing when someone grabbed her by the shoulder, violently turning her around and punched her. She staggered back, clutching her cheek as she looked up to her angry classmates glaring down at her. 

“How could you do that?” Alya yelled at her, kicking her on her stomach. Marinette groaned and coughed, her stomach still sore from the previous kick she received several days ago. She felt something wet on her lip and lifted a finger to touch it, wincing at the sensation and saw that she had coughed up blood.

“What are you talking about?” Jon asked, helping Marinette get to her feet. 

“She beat up Lila! Look at her!” 

They turned towards the Italian girl who had her blazer torn at the sleeve, her skirt was ripped and her hair was messed up. 

“That’s not true! Marinette literally never left her desk today,” Jon shot back. 

“Whatever, you’re not even part of this conversation,” Nino called out. “This is private business.”

“It’s not private if it’s in public,” Damian said, his voice as cold as ice. Everyone froze at his tone. “I’d like to remind you, that you’re here on a paid class trip, which could be revoked at any time depending on your behavior. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Lila scoffed. “She’s broken away. It’s only a matter of time before she becomes a Zero.”

“What do you mean by that?” 

Marinette curled down on herself, not wanting to be part of the conversation any longer.

“Oh, she didn’t tell you? She has a one. It won’t take long before she hates herself too. If you don’t believe me, look.”

Marinette tried to avoid Lila’s hands that aimed to move her bangs out of the way. It was futile though and soon her number was revealed. 

“What the-”

“Wow Marinette. I didn’t realize you were that desperate to raise your number. How many guys have you slept with?”

“W-what are you talking about?” she whispered, looking at all of them. 

“Don’t act like you don’t know. The numbers on your forehead,” Alya scoffed.

“The number, it’s at 42,” Damian said, frowning at her. He had confirmed that her number was at one, so he wasn’t sure how it increased. “And it keeps increasing.” 

“No, it’s stuck at one,” Marinette denied, shaking her head. She pulled away from Damian and started backing up, not liking the way everyone stared at her.

You’re a freak. The numbers are messed up because it’s your fault. You still can’t get this right and it's not even in your control. Look at how they’re all staring at you, like you're a freak. That’s because you are one. You’d be better off dead.

Marinette was so entranced in the voice that she didn’t notice that they were crowding her to try and get a better look at her number. She started to back up, not wanting them to be so close to her that she didn’t notice she was at the edge of the wall until Lila pushed her.

~

Jason ran into the batcave and all but ripped the files from Tim’s grasp and started reading it.

“What the heck man, I almost dropped my coffee!” the younger complained, moving his mug closer to his chest.

“Marinette Cheng, is that the girl you’ve been looking up?” Jason asked, flipping through the pages. 

“Yeah, why?” Tim asked.

“Pull up a picture of her! Now,” Jason said. When Tim made no move, Jason cursed at him and started typing into the computer until her picture showed up. It was the same face that he always knew, but he didn’t want to confirm anything just yet. He couldn’t get riled up because of false hope.

“That’s her, right?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. I don’t get why-”

Jason ignored him and got on his bike and drove off, leaving Tim confused.

Jason didn’t care about how many traffic laws he’d broken. He only cared about trying to see if it was true. The files and his brother’s interactions with her proved that she was real. But he would never trust them. He didn’t trust himself once and he had lost everything. Not again. 

He was always told that she was dead, and he could never forgive himself for that. It was his fault. If he didn’t die he would have been able to save her. He would have been able to protect her like he always did. As he drove, he thought about all the things he loved about her and how much she deserved to be loved. He had seen the files, and knew that she wasn’t in a good state. He’d never stopped loving her, and he was going to make sure that number showed how much he did.

He should’ve known better. That when he woke up after the Lazarus Pits and had a two on his head, he should have known that it was her. Who else could it have been. But he thought it was from himself, so when he was told that his little sister died, he couldn’t look into it. It was too painful for him.

He made a right turn, cutting off the ongoing lane, but he ignored the honks and complaints of the drivers. He only slowed down when the school was in view. He quickly stopped his bike and hopped off. He looked around and saw a girl being pushed off a ledge.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The girl turned to look at the ground and Jason saw her face. It was her. He was sure of it. He moved, not even thinking as he ran to catch her before she fell all the way down. He caught her, not caring about the impact and cuddled her to his chest. He pulled away to look at her face, the same face that he thought he’d never see again.

Those same big blue eyes, and her hair, no longer in pigtails due to the loss of her ribbons hung just below her shoulders. She was still small, which he wasn’t surprised about.

“Little Nettie,” he whispered, starting to cry.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have blessed you, with no cliffhangers this chapter, maybe

Marinette looked up at the person who had caught her. It took her a few moments to process what she was seeing. The man crying above her looked just like -”

“No!” she yelled struggling to free herself from his grip. Though surprised, he let her go, placing her on her feet gently. 

“Nettie,” he whispered. 

She took a step back, her eyes focused on him. She couldn’t seem to figure out what was happening. She swallowed her saliva and gripped her hair, muttering to herself. No one could really make out what she was saying, but Jason grew worried when he saw that she was becoming short of breath.

“This isn’t possible, this isn’t real,” she muttered, walking back and forth. “He’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead. He’s not alive. I saw him die. I was the reason he died. He’s dead and he can’t come back. I gave up on that thought a long time ago. He’s dead and has been for years. You’re just so fucked up that you’re seeing things. He’s dead and you need to move on. Why are you still holding onto the past? He’s dead and you need to get that in your brain. You’re fucked up. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”

“Nettie!” Jason cried out, gripping her hands to make her still again. “Breathe. I need you to breathe, can you do that for me.”

“No no no no no no,” she said, struggling to get her arms back. “You’re not real. Jason’s dead. He’s dead and he’s not coming back. He’s dead and he’s not coming back. And it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. He’s dead and it’s my fault. And now I’m seeing things.”

“Stop, Nettie. I’m not dead,” he said softly, cupping her face. “Look at me. I’m not dead. Look at it. My hands are holding yours, and it’s real. Feel how-how my hands are warmer than yours, and how it's bigger than your smaller ones.”

Marinette seemed to calm down a bit, her breathing become a longer and she stopped muttering to herself. 

“Listen to my voice. Think about how much deeper it is compared to before,” Jason said, cradling her face. “You can’t imagine that can you? You can’t imagine how I would actually look like grown up. Just like how you would always say that the lights in the sky were fairies, and after that I’d call you my little pixie-pop.”

“Pixie-pixie-pop?” Marinette asked quietly, calming down. “Jay-jaybird used to call me that.”

“That’s right Nettie. It’s me. Your jaybird. I’m all grown up now. Just like how you are.” He gave her a small smile. “And you used to draw the most amazing pictures about your hopes and dreams.”

“My sketches,” she said. 

“Yes. You used to draw beautiful pictures of the sky full of colorful lights. And the city full of flowers and butterflies. You used to draw yourself being able to fly through the sky.”

“I-i remember,” she said. “Your favorite was the one I made of us together. A-and we used to go to the pretty field at night. And there was fireflies.”

“There was. Look at me Nettie. I’m real and I’m right here with you, right now,” Jason said.

“But you’re dead. I saw you die,” Marinette said, starting to cry. 

“I was. But let’s say that I made too much of a mess in Hell, so he brought me back to life,” Jason smiled, giving her a wink.

Marinette giggled and jumped into his arms. 

“Jaybird, you’re really alive,” she cried, rubbing her face into his chest. 

“What a slut,” a voice said. 

Jason froze and turned to look at the girl who had spoken, looking down at them like they were the scum of earth. 

“What was that?” he asked. He felt how Nettie stiffened when she spoke. And he noticed how she tried to squeeze even closer to him.

“I didn’t realize that she would sleep with villains to get her number up,” the girl said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“You are going to shut up, right now,” Jason growled, glaring at her. 

Lila and everyone else stiffened, feeling the violent aura he gave off. They all took a step back, but that didn’t stop her from talking.

“I mean look at her. Her number rose so fast, how many guys do you think she slept with?”

“Don’t you dare say another word against my sister,” Jason said. “If you want to keep your tongue, than you should learn how to shut the fuck up and keep your stupid opinions to yourself. Do I make myself clear?”

Lila nodded and hid behind Alya. 

Jason looked back down at Marinette and seemed to notice her injuries.

“Did you do this to her?” he asked slowly, his head turning towards the Parisian group. No one said anything, but they all cowered. “I’m going to ask you again. Did you -”

“Jason,” Damian said. “You’re scaring her.”

Jason turned to look at his sister and silently cursed himself when he realized that she was trembling. 

“Let’s go. I’ll take you somewhere safe,” he said. He led her to his bike and placed his helmet on her, chuckling when it made her head like ginormous with her tiny body.

He helped her get on and started his bike. Before he left though, he made eye contact with Damian, who nodded.

“I’m taking you home Nettie,” he whispered, driving off.

~

“Why was he so mean?” Lila asked, starting to cry. Everyone around her started to comfort her, save for a blonde haired guy.

“You insulted his sister. He had reasons to treat you so harshly,” Damian replied. “After all, you were making outrageous lies against her.”

“I-i thought it was true,” Lila said.

“You thought one of the quietest and shiest girls would start sleeping with people on the street?” Jon scoffed. 

“You should watch what you say around here. You’ll never know who hears it. After all, you just insulted Jason Todd, son of Bruce Wayne,” Damian said, walking away with Jon following him.

~

“I have prepared a room for her,” Alfred said, following Jason as he walked across the foyer and up the stairs. He didn’t seem surprised at the sleeping girl in his arms. “It is across the hall from your room.”

“Can you prepare some bandages and ointments for bruising and a split lip?” Jason asked.

“Of course, Master Jason,” Alfred answered, branching off from Jason’s path. It didn’t take long for him to reappear with a tray full of medical supplies in his hands. “Would you need assistance?”

“If you don’t mind Alfred. And please don’t tell anyone about her until I ask you. I don’t want her to wake up scared and surrounded by people she doesn’t know.”

“Of course.”

Jason quickly opened the door and placed her down on the empty bed. He started to take off her outer layers and looked for any other hidden injuries she was hiding. 

“Oh dear lord,” Jason said, looking at her body. “I’m going to kill that bitch.”

“Calm down Master Jason,” Alfred sighed. “Let us first take care of her injuries. Killing anyone at the moment won’t heal her any sooner.”

Jason let out a sigh and nodded, starting to put ointment on her bruises.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHA ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER?????

Damian couldn’t believe he didn’t notice the signs before. The girl was just like how Jason described her when he got too drunk. She was tiny, and her smile was as bright as the sun. Her eyes are as blue as the sky.

“I knew it,” Jon muttered. 

“What?” 

“She has a scar on her back. And it’s identical to Jason’s,” he answered. 

“But Jason got that from - “

“I know. From the Joker. It’s also when he died. So why does Marinette have it as well?” 

~

“What’s going on?” Dick asked. “I just got a text from Alfred saying we have a guest over?”

“I’m not sure,” Bruce replied, frowning. “He won’t tell until we’re caught up?” 

“I think he found out about that girl,” Tim said, walking up to them. “He ran into the Batcave, read the file and ran off.”

“It’s her,” Damian said, walking up to him. “The girl we were looking up, Marinette. She’s his sister.”

“Are you serious?” Bruce asked quietly. “I don’t want him to get his hopes up. I don’t think I could bear watching him realize he lost his sister again.”

“I know,” Damian said. 

“Master Wayne,” Alfred said, appearing at the top of the stairs. “Master Jason is ready for you now.”

“Making it seem like it’s all formal and stuff,” Tim said.

“Of course it is Master Tim. You are about to meet a guest after all,” Alfred said, leading them down the hall and to Jason’s room. “Please do your best to not scare her. She is easily frightened and not in a good condition right now.”

Everyone nodded and Alfred opened the door for them to enter. They were a bit surprised to see Jason sitting on the bed by himself and no one else in the room. They were sure that there was supposed to be a guest with him.

“Hello,” a quiet voice said. And they all watched as a girl popped over Jason’s shoulder, her body hidden behind his.

~

“Nettie, are you alright?” 

Marinette blinked blearily, trying to get her surroundings straight when a face came into view.

“Jaybird? Is that you?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. “This isn’t a dream, right?”

“No, I’m here and I’m real. Just like you are,” Jason said, starting to cry again. He took her into his arms and hugged her again, scared to let go in case she disappeared. 

“I thought you died,” Marinette said. “I saw- I watched you die in front of me.”

“Let’s just say that I was brought back to life. By a glowing green pond of shit,” Jason laughed. “But what about you? When I came back and was adopted by Bruce Wayne, they all told me you were dead. And I didn’t believe them, so I looked up everything and it was true. There were death records and funeral bills. I was so mad that I deleted everything. Because I couldn’t handle the fact that you were actually dead so I got rid of it. So it was like it never happened.”

“I remember waking up in the hospital. No one would tell me what happened to them and at one point I stopped asking. I stayed there for a few days, and before I was about to leave, I was told that I’d be moving to Paris, with Sabine. She was very nice to me,” Marinette said quietly, a smile on her lips. “She helped me and believed in me. She helped me when Lila came to class. And when they all turned on me and bullied me, she was there. Sabine was there for me and I’ll never forget that.”

“I should be thankful then,’ Jason said, wiping Marinette’s tears away. “For raising my sister when I couldn’t. And what a wonderful job she did.”

Jason leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

“Don’t do that!” Marinette giggled, pushing him away. “I’m not a child.”

“You don’t have to be a child for me to kiss your head,” Jason said.

“So, what happens now?” She looked down at her hands, twisting them around anxiously.

Jason pulled her hands apart, not wanting her to rub her skin raw. 

“You’ll meet my family. They’re nice, when they’re not assholes,” Jason said.

Marinette frowned at him. “I see you still have a potty mouth.”

“And I see that you’re still the responsible little girl that I know and love.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching the room.

“That’s probably them,” Jason said. He watched as Marinette clambered over the bed to hide behind him. “You don’t need to be worried. They’re nice. And if they aren’t then I’ll beat them up.”

“That’s rude,” Marinette said, frowning. When the door opened, she ducked down. She heard them walk in but they didn’t say anything. They were probably scanning the room to find her, so she stuck her head back up. “Hello.”

“Master Waynes, may I introduce to you, Marinette Cheng?” Alfred said. 

“Hello again,” Damian said, giving her a nod.

“Hi Damian,” Marinette greeted, giving him a small wave. 

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dick.”

“I’m Tim.”

“It’s nice to meet you Marinette,” Bruce said, holding out his hand. 

Marinette reached out and shook it once. 

“Hello Mr. Wayne,” she said quietly. “It’s nice to meet all of you. Thank you for looking over my wounds Alfred.”

“Of course Miss. If it starts to hurt again, then do not hesitate to tell me,” he said, giving her a little bow. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your class like?” Dick asked. 

They all noticed how Marinette stiffened up and how she started twisting her hands nervously.

“Th-they’re not that nice,” she said quietly. “They used to be, but obviously now they’re not. But that wasn’t their fault. It’s all Lila’s fault. But it’s not her fault because it’s my fault. It’s my fault, it’s always my fault. “

“Calm down Nettie,” Jason said, rubbing her back. 

Everyone watched as Jason tried to calm her down from her rambling. They’ve never seen him show any kind of love of kindness, not unless he was drunk off his ass, so they were surprised to see him acting like a brother.

“Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, just, too many thoughts,” Marinette said.

“We’re not here to accuse you of anything,” Bruce said gently, sitting down on Jason’s desk chair. “We’ve heard about the lies they’ve been saying. And we just wanted to confirm that they’re false.”

“You know they’re lying?” Marinette asked, looking around the room with tears in her eyes. When they nodded they started to stream down her face. 

“Nettie?” Jason asked. “What’s wrong Nettie?”

“You’re the first ones to believe me after Sabine,” she said, wiping her tears away. “No one’s ever believed me. Miss Bustier knows, but she can’t do anything about it. Neither can Adrien. And that’s only because of all her lies.”

“Do you mind telling us everything?” Bruce asked. “From the beginning, after everything happened with Jason.”

Marinette looked up at her brother, worried. When he nodded at her, she let out a breath.

“Ok. But, I want to hear what happened to Jason first. All the details Jaybird,” Marinette said.

Jason hesitated. He didn’t want to tell her all the gruesome details, but he needed to know what had happened to her after all those years. 

“Alright. Me first,” Jason agreed.


	10. Chapter Nine

“I did die,” Jason said, starting off with that. “And I’m not sure how long I was dead for, that part was a little confusing. I do know that I woke up in a pool of green glowing shit. I’m not sure how I got there or who brought me there. I was scared, I didn’t know what was going to happen or anything. I just knew that I was alone, and my last memory was of you and the Joker.”

Marinette listened intently, just like the rest of the Wayne family, who was surprised. They had never heard this version of the story before, and finally realized why Jason never talked about it. Marinette didn’t realize how painful it was to him and tried to get him to stop.

“You don’t have to -”

“I want to. You deserve to know,” Jason said, smiling down at her. “I stayed there for God knows how long. When I got out, I realized that I had grown several years. I wasn’t the same boy when I first died. I had a lot more rage and anger than I used to. Whether it was for the world or for the Joker who made me lose years of my life, I never found out. When I climbed out of the pool of the green water, I had a number on my forehead. That’s how I knew that you were still alive, still loving me after all these years.”

“I never stopped,” Marinette said quietly.

“And I won’t either,” Jason replied back. “I didn’t know where I was, so I stayed there. For some reason, I never got hungry or tired or thirsty. I just existed. If I ate or slept, it was mainly because I thought I needed to, but I never felt anything. After a while of being stuck there, Batman came. He obviously wasn’t expecting me, because he tried to attack me. When he realized that I wasn’t who he was looking for, he took me back to Gotham, and I realized that three years had past since then. So I was sixteen when I came back.”

“What did you do then?”

“I hid myself. Everyone thought I was dead, and I would have been if I revealed myself,” he answered. “I went around, asking about you and what had happened. Everyone told me that you were dead. That you had died with me.”

“But I don’t understand,” Marinette said, frowning. “I didn’t die.”

“I know. And I’m going to look into it,” Jason said. “I didn’t believe it, I refused to believe it, so I went online, searching for anything that told me that it was a lie. I got so mad that I deleted everything because I couldn’t believe it. Everything about our family, about the deaths anything that mentioned your name.

“That’s why we couldn’t find anything about her,” Tim said, starting to type on his tablet. “I never thought to look on the dark web.”

“You also wouldn’t find her because Marinette isn’t her real name,” Jason said. “Her birth name is Mary Todd.”

“I don’t understand,” Dick said, frowning.

“Jason and I didn’t come from a good family,” Marinette explained. “Which you probably already know by now. I was named after my mother, who was a very bad person. I didn’t want to be like her when I grew up, and I thought that sharing a name would influence it. So I changed it to Nettie.”

“So why did you change it to Marinette when you went to Paris?” Damian asked.

“Can I finish my story first?” Jason grumbled. Marinette giggled and held his hand, giving it a squeeze. Jason smiled down at her and continued his story. “Then I went to train with Batman who took me in and it turned out to be Bruce Wayne.”

“Jason!” 

Everyone looked shocked at how easily he revealed their darkest secret. It almost felt like betrayal. 

“She was going to find out, one way or another,” Jason said. “Be serious guys. We all know why we don’t bring people over. We leave weapons around all over the place, secret entrances are actual doors leading down to the cave. You’re not exactly hiding it.”

Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You’re right, but that’s not the way I would have liked to have told her,” he said, shaking his head. “Perhaps after we’ve gained her trust, or if she found out by herself. Just blurting it out-”

“Um, actually, I already knew,” Marinette said quietly, not wanting to make eye contact with him. “I figured it out. It wasn’t that hard, like Jason said. You live miles away from anyone, have a gigantic house that you don’t need the space for unless you’re hiding something. You have two maps of your house, one of which said civilian guest. The fact that you have one map is ridiculous already. Not to mention the fact that Alfred basically has enough medical supplies for a hospital.”

Marinette paused and realized that everyone was silent.

It’s because you’re a freak. No one else could figure it out, so how did you? You’re too nosy for your own good. Now they’re not going to want you around and they’ll kick you out. Right after you found Jason too. Because you’re such a freak of nature. You’re going to lose eve-

Damian snorted, causing Marinette to look up. Dick was trying to hold in his laughter while Tim gave her a shocked look. 

“Was it really that obvious?” Bruce asked.

“I also saw a disguise lying around somewhere,” Marinette said. 

“Always the observant one,” Jason said, ruffling her hair. 

Marinette giggled, but her smile soon died. “Can I-can I ask what happened to mom and dad?”

“They’re dead, like they deserve,” Jason growled. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it that way.”

“It’s alright,” Marinette said, holding on to his hand. “I know that you’re mad at them. You had a reason. But they’re not part of our lives anymore. You don’t need to forgive them, but realize what they’ve done and how it affected you. If it wasn’t for them, we’d never be here, together. Yes we’ve separated for years and been in pain, but look at where it’s gotten you. I’ve never seen you happier surrounded by people who care about you.”

“And what about you?” Jason asked. “You’ve been in so much pain. You’ve been bullied and in pain. You were shipped halfway across the world. You were beaten again and again and were brought down to a one. That wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for them.”

“Yes. But even though I didn’t have the best life there, I’m still glad that I got to experience it. It taught me lessons I never thought I’d learn. While the last two years of my life hadn’t been all that happy, I don’t regret having moved there. I learned that there are still good people out there, and that there are always people in worse situations.” 

Jason sighed. “When you put it that way, I can’t get mad at you. Now, it’s your story. So hit us with it.”

“I don’t remember what happened after you died. I just know that I woke up in the hospital,” Marinette started. “No one told me anything, they just kept telling me that I was alright, that things would get better. I asked about Jason, but they just kept saying he was in a better place. That’s when I realized you died. They thought they could protect me by not telling me the truth, but they were wrong. It just made it hurt more when I figured it out because I was alone. I was alone when I found out, and I was alone in the world.”

Jason squeezed her hand. He didn’t do it too hard, believing she would break under any more pressure.

“When I was healed, the police told me that I would be leaving Gotham. And that Sabine would take care of me. She was nice, always took care of me and made sure I was safe. It was hard to adjust, but she took her time and slowly I opened up to her.”

“What about your class?” Damian asked. 

“What I wrote in the essay to you was true Mr. Wayne,” Marinette said. “But then Lila came along, and she was shiny and new. And with the fabulous life she lived, everyone believed her. Apparently, I never realized that they don’t have any common sense. When Lila saw that I didn’t believe her, she turned everyone against me. Everyone except Adrien, but he can’t do much either. He comes from a difficult home as well, and Lila managed to sink her claws into that as well.”

“So you’re telling me, that she’s been sprouting out lies and everyone believes it? They don’t bother looking it up online?” Dick asked.

“They want to believe her. Their lives are so ordinary and they have such big dreams. They know that there’s a low chance of succeeding. So they clung to the one hope they had. Which was her,” Marinette said. “And since I tried to call her out on it, I was seen as the one who was going to destroy that hope. So they did their best to get rid of me. They- they brought me down to a one.”

Now they’re going to find out what a loser you are. After all, you’re a one.

“That doesn’t matter,” Jason said, giving her a smile. He brushed her bangs out of the way and looked at the number on her head. “Why don’t you go see what number you have now?”

She gave him a confused look, and he nudged her off the bed. Her foot touched the soft rug and she stood there for a moment before slowly walking over to the mirror. She was very much aware of how everyone was watching her. Marinette stood in front of the mirror and tried to ignore the voice in her head. She raised a shaking hand and slowly parted her bangs, gasping when she saw the number.

1687.


	11. Chapter Ten

“I-i don’t understand,” Marinette said, frowning. 

Jason stood up and walked over to her. He turned her so that she was facing him, and he lifted her face so that she was looking at him.

“Never, underestimate how much I love you,” Jason said, giving her forehead a kiss and pulling her into a hug. 

“I love you too,” Marinette said, starting to cry. She pulled away for a bit. “I’ll always love you. No matter what.”

Jason smiled and moved his hair out the way. “I’m sure of it.”

Marinette gasped happily, surprised to see the number at 1985.

“What number was it at before?” Marinette asked. 

“It was around 264,” Alfred answered for her. 

“That means I love you more! I win!” Marinette giggled, ducking his attempt to try and catch her.

“No fair!” Jason said, running after her. “That’s not true either!”

“Yes it does! It’s simple math,” Marinette said. “Help me Damian!”

She darted behind the other boy, evading Jason’s arm. To everyone’s surprise, Damian put his hand out, giving Jason a slight shove. 

“What was that about Demon Spawn?” Jason asked, rubbing his chest.

“She asked for help,” he replied, shrugging. 

Marinette popped her head out from Damian’s side. “I have allies!”

“I can see that,” Jason said, his eyes narrowing at Damian. “And when did you two become so close?”

“He’s my friend!”

Dick and Tim gasped dramatically, while Bruce looked amused. 

“Congratulations Master Damian,” Alfred said. “You’re first friend.”

Damian growled at them while Marinette giggled. 

“So, what happens now?” Jason asked, looking at Bruce.

“I won’t separate you two if that’s what you’re asking about,” he replied. He watched as Marinette walked over to Jason. He thought back about all the things Jason had gone through. What it was first like when he had just taken him in. He was cold and distant. Even more so than Damian. He never understood why until it came to his attention of his past. “Is Sabine your adopted mother, Marinette?”

“No. She’s my foster mother,” Marinette answered. “Why?”

“Because, I’d like to try to adopt you. Like I did with Jason,” Bruce answered. “If you’d allow it.”

“There he goes again,” Dick sighed, shaking his head.

“Are you that surprised?” Tim said, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, we have the same traits. Black hair, blue eyes, good looks.”

“Shut up,” Damian growled, throwing a pillow at him.

“Oh. Sorry, Demon Spawn. Didn’t mean to exclude you,” Tim snickered.

“How would...everything work out?” Marinette asked, frowning. “I’m not sure what would happen during the process.”

“Well, we just need to fill out the papers. Which we will also use the time to figure out why it was declared that you died. The papers get processed, and if things go well, you’ll be my adopted daughter. And you can be with Jason again,” Bruce said. “Legally, of course.”

“I’ll get to be with Jason again?” Marinette asked, starting to cry. 

“We’ll be together. Like how it used to be,” Jason said. 

“I’d like that.”

“I’d also like to make some changes to your class trip,” Bruce said. “Nothing bad, I promise. But I’d like to see how they’ve changed.”

“And I think it would be best to get your number checked out,” Alfred said. “Having your number jump around like that is not good for you.”

Marinette nodded. 

“I understand,” Marinette said. “But, please don’t be too harsh on them. It’s not their fault.”

“What are you talking about?” Jason asked. “They’re hurt you and bullied you.”

“But they don’t deserve to lose their numbers. Just like me, and everyone else out there, they don’t deserve to hit zero. Everyone should be loved. Yes, there are people out there who do bad things, but to know that no one loves you, not even yourself is a horrible feeling,” Marinette said quietly. “If you tell them the truth, Lila’s number will go down. She’ll be isolated and alone. She’ll end up as a Zero. And I don’t want that to happen because of me.”

“Alright,” Bruce said.

~

The others left Marinette and Jason alone, knowing that they would like to catch up. Not to mention that she looked dead on her feet. 

“Do you have anything yet Tim?” Bruce asked. He noticed that he had been typing on his tablet the whole time. 

“I found the documents. Wasn’t that hard since she told us her real name,” he answered. “Still not finding anything about her death though. I’ll probably have to hack into Gotham police department.”

Bruce nodded. “Now remember. Marinette is a guest here. So try not to make her uncomfortable.”

Everyone nodded and soon he and Alfred left the three on their own.

“So, what’s going on with you and Marinette?” Dick asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Damian growled, glaring at him.

“Don’t act like that. We all saw you protect her.”

“She asked for help, and so I helped,” he replied. “I don’t see what is wrong with that.”

“We all know that you wouldn’t have done anything. But you helped her. You don’t help anybody,” Tim teased. “Not unless you like them. So you like her.”

Damian merely rolled his eyes and walked off, no longer a part of the conversation.

“You know what we have to do, right?” Dick asked.

“Yep. Let’s just hope Jason doesn’t kill us.”

~

“So why’d you change your name to Marinette?” Jason asked. 

“I was somewhere new. I wanted a name that was a part of me. I had two very different lives here in Gotham. A bad one, and a good one,” Marinette explained. “I learned so many things when I was Mary and when I was Nettie. I also believed that since I was being taken away from everything I had ever known, I’d keep something they could never take away from me. My name.”

Jason smiled. “What else have you been up to? You told us about your home in Paris and your school. But what about you? Any hobbies?”

“I like to design clothes,” Marinette answered. “I have a jacket that I created. I designed it based off of you. But I think I might need to make some changes to it.”

“I’d love to wear it,” Jason said. “I’ll walk around the house wearing nothing but the jacket.”

“Jason!” Marinette gasped, hitting him on the arm. “I also like to bake. Sabine used to own a bakery, but had to sell it when she became a Zero.”

“I’m sure Alfred is willing to share his kitchen. Anyway, we need to go,” Jason said, pulling her to her feet.

“Go where?”

“Back to your hotel. To get your things. There’s no way I’m letting you stay there with a class like that,” Jason said. “I’ve informed your teacher so it’s fine.”

“You’re room is this deep into the house?” Marinette asked, following him down several hallways and down two stairs.

“Gotta keep the civilians confused,” Jason smirked. They walked outside and Jason handed her a helmet, making sure it was snug. “Let’s go.”

On the way there, Jason made sure to drive by all the places they used to frequent when they were younger. He made sure to point out all the changes and his new favorite places as well. When he pulled up to the hotel, he handed his helmet to the valet, who seemed a bit surprised to see Marinette with him, but didn’t say anything. 

They went up to her room, uninterrupted until they were stopped at her door.

“Marinette? Are you alright?”


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited.

“Hi Adrien,” Marinette said, giving him a smile. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

“I was worried. I wasn’t sure what had happened and Lila kept making things up. I know they’re not true, but I didn’t know what happened,” Adrien said. 

“Who are you?” Jason asked, narrowing his eyes at him. 

“He’s my friend, the one I was talking about earlier,” Marinette answered. 

“The one that can’t help you?” 

“He’s under special circumstances,” she said. “He’s the only one I trust from the class.”

“What’s the circumstances again?”

“His father also fell for Lila’s lies. And he believes her more than his own son,” she said. “He doesn’t like her though, but he’s forced to keep her happy.”

“So why don’t you rebel? Like a normal teenager?” Jason asked.

“Father is the only one I have left,” Adrien said. “He only wants what’s best for me.”

“He doesn’t know what’s best for you. That’s something you know,” Jason said. “If you’re never going to stand up for yourself, people will walk over you for the rest of your life. Don’t say that your dad doesn’t listen to you, make him listen. You’re his son. He should put you first, and he should know that. If he doesn’t, then you make him know it,” Jason said.

Adrien nodded, though he didn’t seem convinced that it would work. “Who are you by the way?”

“This is my brother,” Marinette said. “Jason.”

“I didn’t realize you had a brother,” Adrien frowned. 

“It was a painful past, and I still don’t know the full story,” Marinette lied. “But I was told that he died. And it wasn’t something I wanted to dig into. So I never told anyone because it hurt so much.”

“I’m glad you’re happy Marinette. I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time,” Adrien said. 

“Thank you. I hope that I can see your real smile soon as well,” Marinette said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Have a good night,” he said, walking back to his room.

Marinette and Jason walked into her room where he sat on her bed and watched her start to pack her things. He grabbed a book that was on the bedside table. He flipped through it and was amazed by the sketches that she had drawn in there. He noticed all the small details that she included and how tedious it must have been. When he got to the last page he frowned. There were several half finished works and some pages torn out. It was dated from a while ago as well.

“It’s been a while since you’ve last created anything,” Jason commented. He noticed how Marinette paused before acting like nothing happened.

“Yeah, I’ve just been busy,” she replied nonchalantly. 

He’s going to find out about it. Then your number will drop since he won’t love you anymore. Because you’re broken. You always have been and you always will be.

“Understandable. If you like, Alfred has a sewing room in the house somewhere,” Jason said. “You can probably turn these into actual pieces.”

“Really?” Marinette said, her eyes lighting up. 

Don’t get too excited. Even if you could make them doesn’t mean it’ll be good. He’ll be so disappointed when it doesn’t turn out well and you fail. 

“Of course. I’m sure whatever you make will be amazing,” he said smiling. He stopped when his phone dinged. He pulled it out and frowned, reading the text message. “We need to go, now.”

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked, watching as Jason shoved everything into her suitcase. 

“Nothing,” he sighed. “Just some reporters out front. We haven’t introduced you yet and they’ll get the wrong idea.”

“Who would’ve thought that you’d be on the news besides for causing mischief,” Marinette teased, walking over to put the rest of her things into her bag. 

“Surprising, isn’t it,” Jason chuckled. “You have everything? Good. Now, we go.”

~

Marinette and Damian ended up going to school together, much to everyone’s surprise. It had become an everyday occurance to watch Damian Wayne exit his car. At first it was to ogle at the son of Bruce Wayne, as they rarely took pictures. But after some time, they did it to see what kind of mood he was in, which would set the behavior of the school. 

If he was in a bad mood, no one did anything they weren’t supposed to. If he was in an alright mood then everything went on as normal. It was difficult to tell at first, but they learned how to read his actions. 

So when Marinette came out with him, they weren’t sure what was going to happen that day. Were they friends? They were talking the other day, and Damian doesn’t talk to anyone besides Jon. Or was he forced to come with her since she apparently knew Jason Todd? Everyone was freaking out, some students were trying to locate Jon, to see if he knew anything.

While scared, they were also a little curious to see what would happen next with the Parisian class. They all saw Lila “bump” into her, causing her to fall. And they knew that Damian wouldn’t keep quiet about it. There were bets going around the school about what would happen to the Italian girl.

“Why is everyone staring?” Marinette asked, looking up at Damian.

It’s because you’re such a freak that they can’t stop looking. It’s like looking at animals in the zoo. You’re such a freak of nature they’ve never seen anything like it before.

“They’re not sure how to react,” he responded, looking straight ahead. “Don’t pay attention to them, or they’ll become even more annoying.”

Marinette nodded and avoided making eye contact with them by looking firmly at her shoes. It was when she almost walked into the wall three times that Damian sighed. He stopped and reached out to hold her hand before leading her to the classroom. 

He almost regretted it when he heard the rest of the school starting to gossip, but when he turned around to look at the hall behind him and glared at them, he caught sight of Marinette’s red face. When he turned back around to start walking to class, he couldn’t get the image out of his mind. The way her eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to process what was happening. How her feet angled inwards.

He was just glad that Jon didn’t have any mind reading abilities.

Damian only let go of her hand when they sat down at the table. He tried to act like nothing happened, but was a little pleased when he saw that she was still red. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, turning to look at her.

“Hu? Wha-?” she stammered, not making eye contact with him. 

“Your face is red,” he commented, acting like he wasn’t the reason why.

“It’s just, uh, kind of...cold in here!” she said, trying to assure him that she was okay. “My face is just red from the cold wind.”

Marinette hoped that that would stop him from asking any questions. Which he did. She also hoped that he wouldn’t question that she was wearing two layers of clothing and was still cold. But he merely took off his blazer and wrapped it around her shoulders, ignoring how she became even redder. 

“I’m alright,” she said, trying to give it back to him. 

“If you don’t remember, you were sick with a cold yesterday,” Damian pointed out. “And Alfred is worried about your health. If I didn’t take care of you he’d give me a lecture when we get home.”

Marinette tugged it closer around her shoulders, making her seem smaller than she actually was. Damian’s figure compared to hers was no joke. The blazer was basically a dress on her, going down to her knees. 

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a shy smile. 

“You’re welcome,” he replied. 

The two sat in a comfortable silence, ignoring the whispers and the pointing around them. It seemed like it was going to be a good day, the rest of the students decided. Until Lila came to school.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Marinette wasn’t sure how to react to Damian’s gestures. Sure it was probably platonic, but the only time a guy did something like that to her was when Nathaniel tried to make a move on her several years ago. 

She knew that everyone was talking about it. After all, it was the Ice Prince who had done it. She wasn’t sure what caused him to have that nickname, but she could probably guess why. She shook her head and tried to stop thinking about it too much. She unconsciously kept touching her hand, not noticing that Damian saw. 

Class was about to start when the Parisian class burst through the door, ignoring the glare the teacher sent them. Lila was standing in the middle of it, leading them in.

“See? I told you she was here. Probably to try and seduce the other students,” Lila snickered. 

Marinette turned and looked down. Sure she knew that what Lila said wasn’t true, but it didn’t stop it from hurting.

“Did you not learn your lesson yesterday?” Damian asked. Everyone became quiet and turned to look at him. Someone quickly started texting the rest of the school that Damian was going to get angry real fast. It didn’t take long before the chattering outside the hall grew silent. 

“And what lesson would that be?” Lila asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“That you shouldn’t pick on other people and to know your place,” Damian answered, leaning back in his chair. 

“And who are you to say that to me? I’m dating Damian Wayne,” Lila said. “If you don’t know your place, then I’ll tell my Damiboo to teach you.”

Everyone started laughing at her, unable to believe what she just said. The Parisian class glared and started shouting at them to stop.

“Oh?” Damian said, raising an eyebrow. “Why don’t you call him? Right. Now. I would love to meet him.”

“I would love to, but he’s in school right now,” she lied, smirking.

“That’s fine. The bell hasn’t rang yet,” Damian replied. “After all, he goes to this school.”

“I didn’t know he went to this school. Do you think you can get me an interview with him?” Alya asked excitedly. She was jumping up and down, happy for her friend.

“Call him Lila! I want to be there when he realizes you’re here as well! It’ll be so romantic!” Rose sighed dreamily.

“I-i’ll call him later. Class is going to start soon,” Lila stuttered. “I don’t want to be late.”

“That’s fine,” the teacher stated. “I can give you all passes. I’ll write them right now.”

Lila watched in shock as the teacher opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers before starting to sign it.

“Why don’t I save you the time?” Damian said, getting up from his seat. He walked over to her and looked her up and down. 

“Well?” Alix asked, glaring at him.

“Well what?” he asked innocently. 

“Aren’t you going to call Damian Wayne?” 

“It’s fine Alix! It’s such a big school after all. I don’t want him to get in trouble for being late because of me!” Lila said.

How could she not have realized that he went to this school? It was the most well-known school in Gotham after all. She silently cursed herself for choosing such a blatant lie.

“I won’t be late to class, after all, you came to me,” Damian said, smirking.

“What?” Nino asked, confused. 

“I’m Damian Wayne. I don’t believe we’ve met.” Damian held out his hand.

Lila scoffed. She should have known they were lying and trying to trick her. So it was time to do the same thing to them. She sniffled, catching everyone’s attention and started crying.

“Why would you try to make it look like I was lying?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. “What did I ever do to you?”

Alya brought her in for a hug before glaring at the class.

“How could you bully her?” she barked. “She just wanted to meet her boyfriend and you’re teasing her about it!”

“I find it funny,” Jon said, walking into the class just as the bell rang. “You claim to want to be a reporter, and yet you don’t do any research.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“Alya’s one of the best reporters we know!” Juleka said.

“She has the most popular blog in Paris! The Al About Paris,” Ivan added.

“And? Am I supposed to be impressed?” Jon asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Who are you to denounce her like that?” Mark asked. “It’s not like you’re a better journalist.”

“Jon Kent. Son of Clark and Lois Kent,” he said. “Both journalists and reporters at the Planet.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Your parents are the journalists. Not you,” Alya scoffed, trying to not act impressed.

“How could you, Marinette?” Lila sobbed, speaking up. “Why did you make them fight? You’re so mean. It’s supposed to be a fun class trip. And you’re manipulating people to make me look like a liar.”

Everyone turned to look at the girl who was sitting in her seat, anxiously watching what was happening. She knew how Lila was, turning any and every situation into one where she was the victim. And she didn’t want it to happen to her new found friends. 

“But I didn’t-,” she stammered. 

“We’re only pointing out the obvious,” Damian said. He pulled out his student ID as well as his driver’s license, both of which displayed his picture and full name. “I thought it would be something easy for you to do as a journalist. After all, you need to fact check any and all interviews, right?”

“He’s, but - Lila?” Alya asked, turning towards the shorter girl. 

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Lila said, trying to think of another way out. “You’ve changed so much. And you spent so much time with Marinette! She probably brainwashed you into turning against me!”

“You cannot be serious,” Damian said. “Why don’t you go to your class. And I would advise you to tread carefully. You’ll never know who will hear your lies.”

“Well, that was interesting,” the teacher said. “But as much as I would love to see Mr. Wayne and Mr. Kent start a fight, you all need to go back to class. So goodbye.”

He pushed them towards the door and threw the slips out before closing the door behind them. 

“Now, let’s get on to the lesson shall we?” he asked, smiling at them. “And Mr. Wayne. Try not to do anything rash. They are guests here after all.”

“I won’t be doing anything,” Damian confirmed. “My father is already working on it.”

The teacher sighed and nodded before starting the lesson.

“Why did you do that?” Marinette asked quietly. 

“Do what?”

“Why did you stand up for me?”

“I wasn’t going to let her say those kinds of things. They’re not true,” Damian replied. “Not to mention that she’s been spreading rumors about me as well. I wasn’t going to stand for that. And you shouldn’t either. You need to stand up for yourself. I know that I don’t know much about you, but you seem to be a good person. And I don’t think a good person would want Jason to kill their classmates.”

“Not sure about that,” Jon said. 

Damian rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Thank you,” Marinette said, giving him a smile. “I haven’t had anyone on my side for a long time. It feels nice to have friends again.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll be by your side no matter what.”

“That’s not what she said,” Jon smirked, giving him a look.

“Shut up,” Damian hissed, turning a bit red. 

Marinette looked between the both of them, confused. She had missed what Damian said and wasn’t sure what they were talking about. But it probably didn’t involve her.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff. 
> 
> AN: I'm not going to be able to post as much for the next week. I have midterms coming up, so I'll try to update when I can. Thank you for understanding and reading! I love you all. Your comments make me so happy. c:

“I’ve missed this,” Marinette said, grabbing a slice of pizza. “French food is great and everything, but they don’t make their pizza the way Gotham does.”

“Slow down there,” Jason chuckled. “Leave some for me.”

“This is amazing Alfred,” Marinette said. “It’s exactly the way I remember it.”

“I should hope so Miss Marinette,” Alfred replied. “I have been making it for several years for Master Jason after all.”

“And it’s as perfect as ever,” Jason said.

“Oh, pizza,” Tim said, leaning over to grab a piece. He was stopped when two hands slapped his.

“This is ours,” Marinette scolded. “You can’t just take it without asking.”

“Sorry,” Tim said, looking like a whipped puppy. 

Alfred thought it was nice to have Marinette in the house. He watched as she started to scold Tim about manners while glaring at Jason who started to eat more than his half of the pizza. Perhaps life would finally calm down around the house. 

And then Dick decided to barge in, throwing the door open so hard that it bounced against the wall.

“Master Dick, might I remind you -”

“Leave the room,” Marinette said. “And come back in once you learned to enter properly.”

“But I-”

“No. Leave.”

Dick left the room rather sadly and entered it again. 

“Was that so hard for you?” Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” he replied sadly. 

“Then you won’t do it again, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you!” Marinette said, turning back to Jason. She started to hit him while he pretended to avoid it while finishing the pizza. “How dare you finish it! You know how much I was looking forward to it!”

“Do not worry Miss Marinette,” Alfred said. “I have another one in the oven. I expected this would happen. It is not the first time Master Jason has eaten all the food.”

“And it won’t be his last,” Tim said, grabbing the last slice. 

At that moment all of the brothers' phones buzzed. The pulled it out and dashed out of the room, Jason giving Marinette a kiss on her forehead before catching up with the others.

“Does that happen often?” Marinette asked, turning to Alfred. 

“Unfortunately yes,” he sighed. “Although they have been getting better at leaving. Before they would dart out, just like this. Even if they were in the middle of an office meeting or dinner with potential clients they would just run off.”

“That must have been terrible,” she winced. 

“It was. Soon Master Wayne only started messaging those that weren’t busy. Which was difficult as he had to keep track of their schedules all the time. After all, you can’t know everything that is expected to happen. There are many things that can affect the schedule. Running late, traffic, accidents.”

“I have a question Alfred,” Marinette said, leaning forward. “You’ve known them for a long time, and I don’t have much experience with family and brothers. Do you mind-?”

“I shall get you a file on all the information about them. After you finish the rest of the pizza,” Alfred said, making a move towards the kitchen.

“Thank you, Alfred.”

~

Marinette sat on her bed, going over the files that Alfred had given her. He was extremely thorough with the information. The first one she went through was Jason’s. He didn’t change much. Most of his interests were the same as before. 

Tim and Dick were similar to each other. Both the happier ones of the family. Damian was interesting. While everyone else seemed to open up a bit after being with Bruce, he was still cold. Not used to people. 

But that didn’t seem like the type of person that Marinette knew. He was kind to her, even though he seemed kind of stuck up when she met him as Robin, but that could be expected. After all, he couldn’t let his emotions get the best of him.

She sighed and thought about what had happened since she first met them all. She met Jason again. She had people by her side. Damian and Jon stood up for her. She was happy again. Or at least she heard the voice less. Which was a good thing, hopefully.

She hoped it would stay that way.

What would it matter though? They’ll find out how much of a freak you are. That you’re worthless and don’t deserve to be loved. Why does it matter how happy you are now? After all nothing has changed. You’re still a freak. You had a one. It won’t be hard to relapse. You know that. You’ve done the research right after you woke up. Almost 60% of people relapse back to a one. It would be better anyway. Chaos and destruction follows you. You make other people suffer, cause them pain. 

“You alright Nettie?” Jason asked, poking his head in through her door. He frowned when he saw her clutching her head. “What’s wrong?”

“Just a headache,” she said, giving him a pained smile. 

Luckily he believed her as she used to have them as a kid. 

“We should take you to the doctor then. Get you checked out,” he replied, looking her over.

“It’s fine,” Marinette muttered. “It’s just, everything is changing so fast. It’s kind of hard to keep up with.”

Jason smiled at her.

“But we’re fighters, aren’t we?” he asked.

“Us against the world.”

“Now, I think we need to have a family fun day,” Jason said. 

“What does that mean?” Marinette asked. 

“We are going to go shopping. Mainly because you need some new clothes,” he answered. 

Marinette flinched. He must have seen the clothes that Lila and the others had ruined. It wasn’t that bad. In fact, it gave Marinette some ideas that she was going to start sketching soon. When she wanted to. 

“But, I thought you didn’t want to be seen with me in public?” she asked.

“Well, kinda. Paparazzi in this city is crazy. There’s been pictures of you on the back of my bike the other day and it’s been kind of crazy,” Jason said. “Let’s walk to the car and I’ll explain more.”

Marinette nodded and grabbed her bag, slipping it over her shoulder. She grabbed Jason’s hand and they walked down the hall.

“We;re planning to introduce you to the media very slowly and delicately,” Jason explained. “The picture kind of messed everything up, but that’s alright. Our next step is to have you be seen with all of us. It’ll be an outing every now and then, until we officially announce anything.”

“So, you’re preparing the media. Keep them anticipating the news while not telling them anything,” Marinette said.

“I always knew you were smart,” Jason said.

“That makes one of you,” Dick snickered.

“Take that back!” he growled, glaring at the older male.

“Or what?” Dick asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Or I’ll sic Marinette on you!” 

“Like that will-”

“Why are you being so mean to him?” Marinette asked softly, looking up at him with her big blue eyes. 

“Wait a minute-”

“He was just giving me a compliment and you insulted him.”

“But th-”

“You should apologize to him,” Marinette continued. “It would be the right thing to do. And you’re a good person, right?”

“I-i-but...sorry?” Dick said, confused. 

“It was super effective!” Jason laughed. He ruffled Marinette’s hair. “I knew keeping you around was a good thing.”

Marinette giggled. 

“So, what other moves does she have besides ‘guilt’?” Tim asked, walking up to them.

“I have Pout, Scratch, Sing, Peck, Confuse Ray,” Marinette answered. “And there’s some hidden moves I have as well. But they are for another time.”

“What a powerful pokemon,” Tim laughed. “Have to be wary about you.”

“I wonder who would win,” Dick mused. “Fairy-type Marinette, or Dark-type Damian?”

Everyone’s eyes widened and all the boys started running throughout the house, looking for Damian.

“What just happened?” Marinette asked, turning towards Bruce who had been silently standing by the car.

“Something is about to happen,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Alfred, please prepare some aspirin for me.”

“Of course Master Wayne.”


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping.
> 
> AN: So my classes got cancelled because of the coronavirus. Which also means that my midterms and assignments got pushed back as well. So here's a chapter!

Marinette slid out of the car, glad that Jason’s tall figure covered hers. So did everyone else in fact. It felt like they were forming a barrier between her and the paparazzi. She knew that she was supposed to be seen with them, but she didn’t feel comfortable with all the cameras and flashing lights. 

“It’s alright Nettie,” Jason said, reassuring her. He patted her back and led her through the mall doors, which was empty save for them and the employees working. Seeing as how Bruce owned the mall, it wasn’t hard for them to empty it out just for them.

“Where do you want to start?” Bruce asked. “We don’t have much experience shopping for females.”

Marinette giggled. 

“It’s alright. Um, you can just take me to the fabric store?” she replied. “I like making my own clothes usually.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes. It’s cheaper as well since I can just reuse the scraps and parts I don’t use at the time,” she explained. 

“Nope. You are going to get some actual clothing. Making them will take a while, so buy some temporary ones,” Dick said. 

“I have a great idea!” Tim said, looking happy. “Dress up with Marinette as the model! You can use any store, you need to come up with two outfits and you only have one hour! Go!”

Tim ran off and the others tried to process what was happening. When they finally realized Jason and Dick ran off as well. However, they stopped when Tim started to run back, dragging the two along with him.

“Wait, what’re your sizes?” he asked. “I can’t lose just because I got your sizes wrong.”

“Um, I’m -”

“Here is a list of her usual sizes,” Alfred said, handing them each a piece of paper. He also handed one to Bruce and Damian. “I’m assuming you two are joining as well.”

“No, that’s not -”

“LOSER HAS TO CLEAN THE MANCAVE!” Tim yelled running off.

Apparently that was a big threat, as everyone started running. Even Bruce and Damian looked panicked as they ran off. 

“Is it that big of a deal?” Marinette asked, turning towards Alfred.

“It is a big cave,” Alfred replied. “And it is not cleaned often. Which makes it a bit worse. Now, if you follow me, Miss Marinette, I’ll take you to the fabric store.”

“Thank you Alfred,” Marinette smiled. “I would love that.”

~

Marinette walked out of the changing room, an embarrassed look on her face. She was trying on Tim’s choice of clothing, which was more of a business casual sort of look. Her first outfit was a pantsuit and a sleeveless white button up with ruffles along the neckline. He had also requested that she wear her hair up in one bun.

“She looks like she’s going to an interview,” Damian scoffed. “Not the exact look you’d want if you’re going to a hang out.”

“Like you know what hanging out is like,” Tim scoffed. “Anyway, next one!”

She came back out wearing joggers and an oversized hoodie with a picture of Red Robin on it.

“Really?” scoffed Jason.

“Gotta endorse,” he chuckled. 

“On to the important part, what do you think?” Alfred asked.

“The first one is a bit too professional, although I do like the style. The ruffles are a bit much though,” she said, wincing at the memory of it. “This one is more of my style when I’m running on eight hours of sleep and eleven cups of coffee for three days.”

“So I’m in the lead,” Tim smirked.

“Because yours was the first outfit she tried!”

Marinette sighed and changed into Bruce’s choice of clothing for her. She wasn’t surprised when they were both business outfits.

“Seriously Bruce?” Dick asked.

“It’s not like I wear anything else,” he grumbled. 

“Try mine on next!” Jason said, bouncing like a little kid. 

Marinette wasn’t surprised when she saw the choice of his clothes. It was similar to what he wore in the past. It was a high waisted black jeans with combat boots. The shirt was a maroon crop top, with a leather jacket with a red stripe going along the chest. 

“That’s basically you’re own outfit,” Tim frowned.

“And it works,” Jason replied.

“Not if it isn’t an outfit for her!”

“It is if it fits her.”

“Whatever. Next outfit.”

His next outfit was more a girly vibe one. The shirt was a mid sleeve with gray and white stripes. For the bottom was a pink skirt that started at her waist and went down to just above her knees. It was a light pink color with a little bit of tulle underneath. There was also a bow on her waist to center it.

“That’s actually cute,” Bruce said. 

“It is,” Damian agreed. Everyone turned to look at him, but didn’t say anything.

“At least there’s an actual outfit that’s feminine,” Alfred said. “I’m glad you know the difference between the two genders Master Jason.”

“Was that a backhanded compliment?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How do you feel about it Nettie?” Jason asked. 

“I like it. It’s more my style, kind of,” Marinette replied, looking at her reflection in her mirror. “I’d probably cut the sleeves off and redo it, but I like it. The first one was a style that I always liked, but didn’t think I could pull off.”

“Which means that I’m in the lead now,” Jason said, laughing at Tim.

Marinette shook her head and tried on Dick’s outfits. He had the most casual style out of all of them. It was a pair of blue jeans for both outfits and a different graphic tee. 

“Did you even try?” Jason asked, turning towards him. 

“It’s not bad,” Marinette said. “It’s simple and plain, and I do like the designs.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Dick smirked. “Anyway. Time for Demon Spawn’s.”

“Don’t call me that,” Damian growled.

Marinette frowned when she saw that there was only one outfit left. 

“You only have one outfit,” she said, sticking her head out.

“I didn’t have enough time,” he shrugged.

“That means you have a higher chance of losing!” Tim cheered. “Which means I won’t be cleaning the mancave.”

Marinette rolled her eyes at his reaction and tried on the outfit. She was quite surprised at what he had chosen. It was a black skater skirt with large white polka dots on it. The shirt was double layered, white and sheer. The bottom layer was fitted against her chest, while the top layer was sheer and flowy. He also gave her black thigh high socks and some flats to go with it. She stepped out of the changing room, allowing them to all see.

“Damn, when did you get fashion skills?” Dick asked. 

“Who would’ve thought? Demon Spawn knows fashion,” Jason laughed.

“This is cute. It’s probably the closest thing to my style,” Marinette confessed. “Good job Damian.”

Damian didn’t answer and merely nodded. 

“Why don’t you try putting your hair down?” Jason suggested. “And then give us a twirl.”

She did as he said, not noticing how Tim took out his phone to record her. 

“What do you think?” she asked, giggling. She turned towards Damian as it was his outfit.

“You look nice in it,” he responded. “It suits you.”

He’s only saying it to be polite. Didn’t you notice how he paused before he answered? Or how monotone he sounds. He doesn’t think you look nice in it all. You’re probably ugly. Unflattering for your figure. 

“Maybe I should make matching outfits for all the outfits you’ve chosen for me,” Marinette said, trying to ignore the voice. “That way we can match. And I can make you all a present for taking care of me.”

Everyone agreed, seeming happy with the idea. Once they packed everything up into shopping bags, they left the mall.

“So who’s the loser?” Bruce asked. Everyone paused and turned to look at her.

“There is no loser?” she said, not wanting to be the decider. 

“Not an option. You have to choose,” Dick said.

“You’re not getting out of this one Nettie,” Jason agreed. 

“Then...Bruce and Tim,” she decided. The others cheered while the two losers stared at her, shocked. “It’s just that, the clothes weren’t fit for an everyday thing and I already have professional and sleep crisis clothes.”

The two men sighed, accepting their defeat as they walked to the car. 

“So, are we going to hang out with Jon tomorrow after school?” Marinette asked, walking behind the others to talk to Damian. 

“You don’t have to. He’s annoying,” Damian responded. “Everyone’s annoying.”

Marinette frowned.

“Does that include me?” Marinette asked quietly. “I’m sorry for bothering you-”

“Everyone except you,” he grumbled. 

“Really? So you don’t find me annoying?” Marinette giggled. “What do you think of me then?”

“You are...unique. In a good way,” Damian said, turning red.

“Thank you. I find you unique as well,” she responded. 

Neither of them noticed how the paparazzi was loving their interaction as they walked to the car. Not only was Damian Wayne talking to a girl, but he was blushing. It seemed like there would be quite a scandal tomorrow.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Marinette woke up in the morning to the sounds of screaming and crashing. Not something she was used to. Well, not anymore. She poked her head out of her room and tried to see if she could understand the yelling, but couldn’t. So she decided to follow the sound until it led her to a living room. 

Damian was being chased by an angry Jason while Dick and Tim cheered him on. Bruce was standing next to Alfred rubbing his temples as he watched them.

“What’s going on?” she asked, frowning. 

“Don’t worry about it Nettie,” Jason growled. He then pulled out a shuriken and threw it, barely missing Damian as he avoided it at the last moment. 

“Jason!” Marinette cried out in concern. 

“He deserves it!”

“I didn’t even do anything! It’s not my fault!” Damian yelled. 

Tim had moved so that he was standing next to Marinette. 

“The, uh, media seemed to have taken a different approach than what we were aiming for,” he explained. He handed her his tablet and showed her the news.

It was a picture of her and Damian talking as they walked to the car. She was smiling brightly at him while he was blushing. Apparently, seeing as how he was the Ice Prince, the picture was scandal worthy. 

Marinette stared at the picture, not saying anything. It was all her fault. If she didn’t talk to him then the picture never would have happened.

Do you think he wants to be seen with you? He’s probably disgusted that he was called your boyfriend. That’s why he and Jason are fighting. Because he complained and laughed at you and Jason got mad and attacked him. How come fighting and chaos always follows you? It’s because you’re nothing but a freak. And why did you even think about making them matching clothes? Did you think that they would want some rags you stitched together? Pathetic. They’re the Waynes. They wear professional high end clothing, not what you make.

“Nettie, are you alright?” Jason asked, noticing how his sister hadn’t moved. “We’ll get the situation handled. Don’t worry.”

“It’s my fault,” she replied. “If I didn’t talk to Damian-”

“It’s not your fault. Though why you would want to talk to Demon Spawn I will never understand,” Dick said. “It’s just how the media works. They take anything out of context just for the money.”

“But-”

“No, buts. Now go get dressed for school, and let the adults handle the situation.”

Marinette sighed and went back to her room to get ready.

“You need to protect her Damian,” Jason said, turning to the youngest. “I’ve seen your reports about her class. With something this big, they’ll try to make it into something bad. I’m trusting you, alright?”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Damian scoffed. 

“You may think of this as a protection job. But she’s more than just a client. She’s my sister.”

“I got it,” Damian replied. “Now if you don’t mind, I also need to get ready for school.”

~

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said. 

They were in the car, Damian driving them to school.

“What for?”

“For the situation. You seemed uncomfortable,” she replied.

“That wasn’t it. I just hate the media,” he said. “It’s not your fault either. I’m just not used to attention.”

“Really? You’re Bruce Wayne’s son, and you aren’t used to attention? It seems like you're always the center of it no matter what,” she said.

“When I was living with my mother, she didn’t treat me like a son. More of a student than anything,” he responded. “She was a teacher for a private...school. Very private, and she treated me as she would a student. Regulations or something so that I could get into the school as well.”

“That’s so sad,” Marinette said.

“Sad? I’ve never heard anyone say that before,” he frowned.

“Your mother didn’t treat you that well. You should have grown up in a loving environment with parents who care about you,” Marinette said.

“You didn’t,” he pointed out. 

“That’s true. But that doesn’t mean that everyone deserves to be raised like that. She should have put you first instead of the education.”

“It’s in the past now,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He pulled into the parking spot and turned off his car. “You ready? Everyone’s going to be staring.”

“I’m good,” she replied. She stepped out of the car, and the first thing she noticed was the silence.

Everyone was staring at them, trying to see if it was true or not. Some girls looked a little heartbroken, but mainly everyone was just shocked. She tried to ignore their stares and headed into school with Damian.

The hallway was the worst part in Marinette’s opinion. It was basically an endless line of people watching them. Some people whispered, but nothing happened. It was kind of creepy how they were watching. Their heads slowly turning as they followed the two down the hall. 

Even when they sat down in their seats everyone was still watching them. Damian must have noticed how uncomfortable Marinette was because he rapped his fingers on the table and everyone looked away. 

“What was that?” she asked, somewhat impressed. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. 

No one else seemed to mention anything about it until Jon walked in.

“Who would’ve thought that Damian would get a girlfriend?” Jon asked, sliding in the seat next to them.

“It’s not true,” Marinette said. “The picture was taken out of context.”

“Really? Cause it looks like you tricked Damian into spending a fortune on you.”

Everyone turned to look as Lila and Alya walked in.

“Why do you keep going to classes that aren’t yours?” Damian sighed, not wanting to deal with them. 

“I feel bad for you Damian,” Lila said. “I tried to warn you about Marinette, but I was too late. She’s already using you.”

“That couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Marinette said, defending herself. “If anything, I refused to use their money and used my own instead.”

“Still, getting them to close down the mall just for you?”

“I didn’t-”

“Just give up Marinette! I don’t get why you’re still lying after all these years!” Alya said. “I thought better of you, but I guess I was wrong.”

“I have never lied to you Alya! Not once!”

“You have so many times! And you’re doing it again right now. I can’t believe I thought you were my best friend,” she scoffed. “Biggest mistake of my life.”

Marinette looked down, not wanting to look at her old friend any longer. 

“The biggest mistake of my life was believing in you,” she responded quietly. “Believing that you were a good friend. Believing that you would stick by my side. That you wouldn’t betray me. But I guess I thought too highly of you.”

“How dare-”

Alya wasn’t able to finish her sentence as screams erupted from the hallways. Students started rushing in to avoid whatever was happening in the hall. 

“Where’s the little girl?” a voice called out through the screams. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> unedited

Marinette froze and looked at Damian, who was more adept in handling situations like these. He was currently texting someone, most likely his family. 

“Do you know what’s happening?” she whispered. 

“No. But the others are on their way over,” he replied. “Jon, can you see who it is?”

“It’s Two Face,” he replied. “But I can’t tell why he’s here. He’s just calling out for a girl. He didn’t come alone. There’s about four other people with him.”

“What does Harvey want?” Damian frowned. 

The door slid open, ending their conversation. Two Face walked in, with his crew of goonies behind him. 

“Is she in here?” he asked, looking around the room. He paused when his eyes landed on Marinette. “Looky looky fellas. We’ve found her. Grab her.”

Two of the goons started walking towards them and grabbed Marinette by her arm. They pulled her to the front of the class. 

“There she is,” Two Face said, a smile adorning his unscarred face.

“What do you want from me?” Marinette asked quietly. She was shaking from the fear, but tried to pretend like she was calm. 

“I just wanted to get to know Damian Wayne’s girlfriend,” he said, running a finger along her cheek. She flinched at his touch.

“I-i’m not his girlfriend,” she denied.

“She broke up with you already?” Two Faced laughed, turning towards Damian. “That has got to be a record.”

“It was all clickbait,” Damian called out. “Let her go. She has nothing to do with my family.”

“Oh really?” Two Faced asked. He grabbed Marinette by her arm and yanked her closer to him. “Then would you like to explain the video of her and your brother the other day? That didn’t look like a regular encounter to me.”

Damian cursed under his breath as he watched Marinette try to remove his hand from her arm.

“Don’t go moving there little lady,” Two Face said. He pulled out a gun and aimed it at her head. “I don’t want to accidentally shoot you.”

Marinette whimpered and stayed still. She wasn’t sure what to do and tried to find a way out. Or at least a big enough distraction to get everyone else out safely.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked. 

“I don’t really need a reason, do I?” Two Face responded. “I just like to spread chaos where I go. Might as well meet the new Wayne. Two birds with one stone, don’t you think.”

“But is spreading all that chaos something that would benefit you?” Marinette asked, looking up at him. She widened her eyes a bit to try and make her look a bit more innocent. “What does the chaos do to you?”

“It causes me joy. It makes me laugh,” Two Face said. He moved her bangs out of the way and scoffed at the big number. He then showed her his number of 54. “Do you see the difference between our two numbers? This is what separates me from you.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Marinette said. “I-i used to have a low number too. My parents were deadbeat and my brother died. I got shipped off to Paris with a low number. But I made friends, and my number went up. But then they all turned on me.” As she talked she made eye contact with Lila and Alya. “They became mean and hurt me. They brought me down to a one.”

Everyone in the room gasped at her revelation. Having such a low number like that wasn’t good for anyone. 

“And the worst part was that the number wasn’t from me. I hated myself a long time ago. But it was that one number that kept me going. I didn’t know who it belonged to but the fact that someone out there loved me, was enough for me to start loving myself. After all, if they didn’t give up on me, why should I?” Marinette asked. “So you’re wrong. We aren’t that different after all. We both know what it’s like to be unloved and at the bottom. The only difference is how we recovered from it.”

“Is that supposed to affect me?” Two Faced scoffed. “I heard your little sad story and I let you go out of the kindness of my heart?”

“Nope. Just as a distraction,” Marinette replied. Taking the chance, she elbowed his solar plexus and stepped on his foot. When he doubled over to clutch at his stomach, she lifted her hand and up and hit his nose, breaking it. He screamed out in pain as she also hit his more sensitive side. But that didn’t matter as she kicked him in the groin and yanked the gun out of his hands and pointed it at him. She noticed that his goonies pointed their guns at her.

“Don’t act like you know how to use it,” he growled, getting back up to his feet.

“Of course I know how to use it,” Marinette said, gripping it tighter. She slowly lifted one hand and cocked the gun. “I was born here, after all. After living on the streets, the first thing I ever learned was how to use a gun.”

“So what are you going to do then? Tell me more about your sad life? Try to make me good again? Kill me?”Two Faced asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“You’re asking the wrong questions,” Marinette replied. “What you should be asking is how good I am.”

Before anyone could blink, Marinette shot four times. In a span of a couple seconds, all four goonies were on the floo, clutching their legs and trying to stop the bleeding. Damian had to admit that she had some good skills, especially being able to aim that well in a stressful situation and surrounded by other people.

Two Faced blinked and realized that he was by himself and unarmed. He looked back at the small girl and flinched when he saw the look in her eyes. She had seen and faced death, but beat him and survived another day.

“There’s something else that makes us different Dent,” Marinette said. “When you have a gun in your hand, you go for the kill. But I make them suffer.”

At that moment, the door burst open and Batman as well as Red Hood entered. They seemed ready to fight, and were quite surprised at the scene in front of them.

“Are you alright?” Batman asked the room at large. Some students nodded while others sat frozen. “Leave now. School is cancelled for the day.”

They didn’t hesitate to leave. Only Damian and Jon stayed. As well as Lila and Alya. 

“Put the gun down,” Red Hood said carefully as Batman walked over to Two Face and cuff him. 

Marinette nodded and unloaded the gun before dropping it. 

“Are you alright?” he asked. 

“I’m fine,” she nodded. “I’m fine.”

Red Hood nodded and frowned when he noticed the other two girls.

“Why are you still here?” he asked.

“I wanted to know if I could get an interview,” Alya asked, pulling out her phone. “Lila said that you were to busy to contact her-”

“I’m sorry. But I think you’re mistaken. I have never been contacted by your friend,” Red Hood stated. 

“Lila said that she works with you,” Alya continued. “That she looked up all the information and research for you. As a civilian aid.”

Lila tried to get Alya to stop talking, a bit scared as to what Batman would do once he realized that she had been lying.

“Might I warn you Lila, that lying here in Gotham will lead you to nothing but trouble,” Batman stated, glaring at her. “Did you just not witness what a clickbait title did to your fellow classmate?”

“She’s not lying though,” Alya defended. “She told me-”

“I do not want to repeat myself. Do I make myself clear?” he asked.

Lila nodded fearfully and dragged Alya out of the room, ignoring her protests.

“So, when did you learn how to use a gun?” Jon asked, walking up to them.

“Didn’t you hear me? I grew up here. I learned how to use it to protect myself,” Marinette answered.

“Looks like my teaching skills were amazing after all. Still ingrained in your head,” Red Hood said, walking over.

“Shut up Jason,” Marinette said, shaking her head. 

“You alright?” Damian asked, looking her over. Although she tried to hide it, she was shaking. “I’ll take you home.”

Marinette didn’t say anything, but let Damian lead her to the car.

“Wait, when did she know about-? I’m confused,” Jon said.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> unedited. Also double update? triple update? I posted chapter 15 in the morning, so if you haven't read it, go read it. If you did read it, then read chapter 16 first. c:

Marinette was sitting on the floor, next to the lit fireplace. She had a blanket wrapped around her, and wasn’t really aware of anything else.

He wasn’t wrong. You hurt people. You said it yourself. He kills them so they don’t suffer. But you aim for the vital points, so they can feel pain and suffering. How are you any different from the other villains of Gotham?

“Is she alright?” Dick asked, watching from a distance.

“I think she’s just in shock,” Damian said. “She handled the situation quite well, but I’m not sure how it affected her.”

“Sounds like she was pretty badass to me,” Tim said. “Anyway, I have some news.”

“It can wait,” Jason said, walking past them to sit next to Marinette. “You alright Nettie?”

“Mhm. Just...forgot how things were here in Gotham,” she replied. 

“Nothing like home, huh?” he responded. “How long has it been? Since-?”

“Not for eight years? Nine?” she said. “Not since mom and dad.”

That’s not true and you know it. Don’t you remember the days before you left for Paris? All the time you were with him? He taught you everything you know. Don’t pretend that you don’t remember. It’s sitting there. The memory that you don’t want to remember. It’s waiting for you to think about it.

“Don’t think too much about it Nettie,” he said softly, rubbing her back. “You did the right thing. If you didn’t shoot then the other students would have gotten hurt.”

“I know,” she said, taking in a shuddering breath. “I just don’t want to do it anymore.”

“And you won’t. I can’t tell you that you will never touch a gun again, because I can’t tell the future. But if you don’t want to, then you won’t have to,” Jason said. 

“Thank you,” she said, leaning against him. 

“Why don’t you sleep today off?” Jason suggested. Marinette nodded and walked off to her room. “What was the news Timmy?” 

“I know why she was sent off to Paris. And why her name changed,” he said. “Let’s head down to the cave. Bruce is down there waiting as well.”

He nodded and everyone made their way down to the Batcave. Tim waited for everyone to be seated before pulling up the files he found.

“So, the reason why we couldn’t find anything is because legally Marinette is dead, as you all know,” Tim started. “But there’s a reason why they filed her as that. It’s because she’s on the Witness Protection Program.”

“What?” Jason shouted. 

“What do you mean?” Damian frowned.

“Let him explain first,” Bruce said. He gestured for Tim to continue. 

“After Jason died, Marinette went missing for a whole year before they found her. Apparently, the Joker kidnapped her. They didn’t mention what he did to her though, and she never told them. They think she's suppressing that memory. She doesn’t remember anything.” 

“So you’re telling me that the Joker kidnapped my little sister, and hurt her so bad that she doesn’t even remember?” Jason asked. 

“Yes.”

Jason stood up and started heading over to the weapons rack.

“I’m going to kill that sick freak,” he growled.

“You need to stop Jason,” Dick said, trying to stop him.

“No, he hurt her and I’m not going to forgive him,” Jason said. “He can hurt me all he wants, but he is not allowed to touch my little sister.”

“Jason, stop and think about it,” Damian called out. “The Joker thinks she’s dead. If you go after him for that, he’ll realize that she’s still alive and all the work that’s been done to hide the fact will be for nothing. You would just be putting her in more danger.”

Jason paused, knowing that Damian was right, but didn’t want to admit it.

“And if you think about it, wouldn’t you going after him stress her even more? He killed you once. She probably doesn’t even want you to be anywhere near him,” Damian continued. “Just sit back down and we’ll talk about this.”

Jason groaned but sat back down nonetheless. 

“Tell me everything,” he said, looking at Tim.

“So, when you died, you were found alone. But witnesses stated that you were with your little sister. So the police looked her up, put up a reward and everything. No one found her, so she was declared missing, but the case went cold. What surprised the police was that that year, the Joker didn’t do much. Didn’t destroy anything, didn’t make any chaos. He was silent. Almost a year after your death, Marinette was placed in front of the police station,” Tim stated. “They took her in and interrogated her. When she didn’t say anything, they brought in a therapist. She didn’t say much, but she repeated this one phrase.”

“What was it?” Dick frowned.

“She said, ’he’s coming for me,’” Tim replied. “And when they asked her who, she said ’the man who never stops smiling. Even when he’s hurting me.’ So they decided to take precaution. And they sent her to Paris. And as soon as she was there, she didn’t mention anything about it again.”

“So, her being here in Gotham is putting her in danger,” Jason said. He looked around the room and made eye contact with Bruce. “I’m not leaving her again.”

“I won’t make you separate,” Bruce sighed. “But we need to put up some precautions. Her face is on the media, and after today, it will probably spread even more. I won’t be surprised if he saw.”

“I will protect her. No matter what. I’m not going to fail her again,” Jason said.

“I know,” Bruce agreed. “Contact Harley and see if she has any information. And try to get rid of any and all articles, pictures, tweets about her. She’s going offline.”

~

Marinette laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She knows she should tell Jason, but what if he was disgusted by her? He was the only person she had left, and she couldn’t handle it if he left her. She sat up and slid off her bed before reaching out towards her bag, where she kept her sketchbook. It wasn’t her regular one with the clothes, but it was her personal one. The one where all her deepest fears were. If they were trapped in the book, they wouldn’t go after her. Or at least that’s what she told herself.

She flipped through the pages until she landed on the one that haunted her the most. 

Joker, standing over the dead body of her brother. But the worst part was that she drew herself standing right next to the clown who was laughing. And she looked happy.

~

Deep in a prison with nothing but rats as companions, a man smiled as he watched the news. His smile widened when he recognized the picture of the girl. 

He let out a small giggle that grew louder and louder until the only sound was his laughter ringing his cell. The sound bounced off the walls, making it seem like several people were laughing. 

“You’ve come back to me.”


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. Also, i just realized that my italicized words aren't being italicized when I copy and paste it over. so...sorry???

Marinette shook her head as she tried to deny the picture. She didn’t even remember drawing out. Her breath started coming out shorter and shorter as she tried to process what was happening. It was getting hard to breath and she wasn’t sure what to do. No one was there to help her. 

She started looking around for a pencil, basically ripping her bag apart to find one. When she found it she flipped to an empty page and started to draw. Her breathing slowly turned back to normal, but her grip on the pencil never loosened. 

She didn’t know what she was drawing, but she just knew when she was done. She wasn’t having a panic attack anymore, but her hands wouldn’t stop moving. She flipped through page after page, drawing something on it before moving on again. 

When her hand wouldn’t move anymore, she had to force the pencil out of her hand. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to look at what she drew, but it had to be done.

She flipped to the first one she drew. She let out a breath of relief when it was just a picture of her and Jason in the field. She smiled when she saw the picture. The both of them were still young in the picture, just sitting on the grass and playing with the bugs.

The next picture was Jason chasing after something, his hand reaching for something in front of him. He seemed scared, as if something was taken away from him and he needed it back. Marinette frowned and winced when a pain pulsed through her head.

The third picture was of a little girl, curled up against the wall. Her arms were over her head, trying to protect herself from an unseen danger. 

The fourth picture was of her, when she was younger. In her hands was a gun, aimed at something. Her face seemed determined as she shot, the bullet aimed right at the edge of the paper. There was a man standing behind her, his hand on her shoulder as he watched her.

But it was the last picture that worried her the most. 

Jason was clutching his stomach, blood spurting out of it as he tried to stop it with his hand. His face was a mixture of sadness and fear. Why she drew him like that, she didn’t know. But she didn’t want to stare at it any longer. 

She ripped out the pages, not caring if she ripped out any other pages in the process. She just wanted those pictures gone. She ripped them until she wasn’t able to anymore. She gathered the ripped pieces and walked out of the hallway and out to the living room. The fireplace was still lit, which she was hoping for. She didn’t hesitate to throw it in the the fire and stayed there until it burned. 

She let out a breath of relief, as if something was lifted off her shoulders and went back to her room.

~

“Is everything ready?” 

“Yes sir. Everyone is in position.”

A box slid through the cell. Gloved hands reached out and opened it. When he saw what was inside, he started to laugh. The man winced, still not used to the laughter even after years of working with him.

“Good.”

“Just press the button when you are ready. Everyone is waiting.”

The man then left, leaving the other man in the cell alone.

“Excellent. Little Mary, I’m coming for you.”

~

Marinette wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t know what the pictures were about and she didn’t want to think about it. She started to walk back and forth, pacing as the many thoughts raced through her mind. 

You don’t remember do you? All the bad things you’ve done. How you’ve hurt Jason. I’m surprised that he doesn’t remember. You hurt so many people. I never lied when I told you that chaos follows you. It’s been a part of you ever since you were born. You shot the four men with ease, you didn’t even flinch.

“Shut up,” Marinette whispered, clutching her head.

You can’t run away from the truth. It’ll always catch up to you. It’s only going to get worse from here. Everyone around you is going to get hurt. And it’s all because you came back to Gotham.

“”SHUT UP!” Marinette screamed. She couldn’t handle the voice anymore. She wanted it gone. “JUST SHUT UP! CAN YOU JUST STAY QUIET FOR ONCE?”

She wasn’t sure what to do. The voice just kept on talking and talking and talking. And nothing would make it stop. It was constantly fighting her every day.

Am I fighting you though? Or am I just telling you the truth that you refuse to believe. I have never once lied to you. 

“You always lie to me! Just like Lila,” Marinette growled. She walked over to the mirror standing in front of it. She tried to focus on herself. There was no one there but herself.

I have told you nothing but the truth. The difference between Lila and I is that I know everything about you. I know your past. I know what you’ve been through. I’m just trying to help you realize what you fail to see. 

“I don’t believe you,” Marinette yelled. 

Look at yourself. Open your eyes and see what you always failed to see. That you are not normal. You are different from what you believe. 

Marinette looked closer and suddenly she realized what the voice was talking about.

She was younger, her hair in her usual pig tails. She was wearing a ratty dress, her face covered in dirt. Her eyes were dark, full of anger. In her hand was a gun. Behind her stood the Joker, smiling back at her. What scared her the most was the red smile painted on her own mouth.

“Stop it!” Marinette yelled. She grabbed the closet thing next to her, a hairbrush on the table, and threw it at the mirror. It shattered into pieces, some pieces falling onto the ground, but otherwise it stayed mostly intact. Marinette stared at her shattered reflection. “That’s not me! Stop lying to me!”

I didn’t do anything. You just remembered a part of your past. Haven’t you always wondered why you don’t remember anything until the hospital. What happened then?

Marinette decided not to continue the conversation. She looked at the table and felt happy that she didn’t deny the sleeping pills that Alfred gave her. She quickly downed two of them and got into bed, waiting for sleep to overcome her. 

You can’t run away from me forever. 

“Just watch me,” she muttered, closing her eyes and drifting off.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Read chapter 18 first! c: also Ivy and Harley know their identities. cause why not.

Jason peeked his head in Marinette’s room and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was sleeping. He frowned when he saw the broken mirror, but brushed it off as an accident. He would rather talk to her about it later rather than now. He wasn’t even sure what he would say. To be honest, he wasn’t completely sure what happened at that time either. It was probably due to the Lazarus Pits. Everything about his death was fuzzy. He had some flashes, but nothing that would really give him answers. 

He wondered if Marinette told him the truth. Or if she was lying to him. Whatever it was, she was still his sister. And he would love her no matter what. He hoped she knew that. 

“She’s sleeping?” Bruce asked from behind him.

Jason closed the door and turned around to face Bruce before nodding.

“Harley answered our call. She’s heading over with Ivy right now. She sounded frantic,” Bruce said. “I thought you would like to join.”

“Yeah. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Bruce nodded and left.

Jason entered her room once more and walked over to her. He gently brushed her hair out of the way and looked at her number. His number that he gave her. He smiled down at her and leaned down to give her a kiss on her forehead before leaving.

~

“Where’s Mary?” Harley asked, barging past Bruce. “I swear to god Batty-”

“She’s sleeping right now,” Jason answered. 

“Is she alright?” 

“As of right now, yes.”

“What does that mean?” Ivy asked. “Sup Wayne.”

“Ivy. Nice to see you again,” he greeted.

“She’s sleeping. Physically she’s getting better. We don’t know anything mentally,” Tim said, answering Harley.

“You haven’t checked her yet? I’ll go up -”

“Calm down Harley,” Dick said. “Sit down and let’s talk it over first. We don’t know the full story. But it looks like you do. Let’s just answer the obvious questions.”

Harley looked agitated, but agreed nonetheless. She took a seat next to Ivy who already sat down.

“How do you know Mary?” Harley asked, looking around the table.

“She’s my sister,” Jason answered.

“Wait, what?”

“She’s my sister,” he repeated. 

“I-i never knew that,” Ivy said, leaning forward.

“No one knew. Everyone thought she was dead. I thought she was dead. I didn’t know she was alive until she came back to Gotham,” Jason explained. “We looked into it and she was in the Witness Protection Program. Do you have any idea what happened to her?”

“I’m not sure what you remember,” Harley started. “But, Joker kidnapped Mari about two months before your death. That’s why you died. Because you were trying to find her.”

“I-i don’t remember-”

“You don’t remember because of Joker. He created this new chemical with Scarecrow to forget memories,” Harley answered. “But it didn’t work. Because you kept coming back trying to get her back. The chemical only went so far as erasing your memory of being tortured and finding her. So to you, you never found her, so you kept looking for her.”

“Is that why my memory of that time is so bad?” he asked quietly.

“I’m not completely sure, but it’s probably the reason,” she answered. 

“Why did Joker want her in the first place?” Damian asked, frowning. 

“Because Mary is a meta,” Harley answered. 

“No she’s not,” Jason argued. “She’s not a meta. She never displayed any sort of power.”

“Her power is very secret. I didn’t even know what it was until three months after I met her. And that was only because Joker was testing it,” Harley said. “Her power is luck and creation. She’s very smart, allowing her to be able to think of creative solutions. Her luck is the more powerful one. It’s based on her emotions. If she’s happy, then there’s good luck. If she’s sad or mad, then there’s bad luck. She doesn’t cause anything to happen, but it follows her. If you’re near her then you’ll become lucky. But if she’s in a bad mood, then chaos and destruction follows. It’s similar to the butterfly effect.”

“I-i never realized that,” Jason said. He started to think about all the memories they had. Why their dad became so much worse when Nettie was when she started to cry. Or how when they were on the street, nothing bad happened to them because she was so happy to be out of the house. “How could I be so stupid?”

“It’s not your fault. It was difficult for me to realize why Joker was so invested in her,” Harley said, reaching out a hand to squeeze his. 

“What did Joker do to her?” Bruce asked.

“He trained her to be his successor,” Harley said, closing her eyes. “It was horrible. What he did to me was nothing compared to her. The things he did to her. She probably has PTSD.”

“She actually doesn’t remember what happened. Or she hasn’t told us about it,” Dick said. 

“He tortured her. Broke her bones, burned her. It wasn’t until he put her in the acid that she actually changed,” Harley said, choking on her words. “She lost her emotions, allowing Joker to turn her into something like him. I didn’t say anything because I was so in love with him. But it was when Jason came after her the last time that I knew I had to get her out of there.”

“What happened?” Jason asked. When she hesitated to answer he continued, “She’s my sister. I need to know what happened. It doesn’t matter to me because I’ll love her no matter what, but I want to be there for her. I can’t help her if I don’t know what happened.”

“Joker wasn’t the one who killed you,” Harley said. “It was Mary.”

~

Marinette woke up with a start. Something felt wrong, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her heart was pounding and she was breaking a sweat. She felt a little nauseous. Not sure what to do she decided to look for some medicine. Sliding off the bed, she slid on her slippers and walked out to the hall. The first thing she did was knock on Jason’s door, to see if he was there or not. But no one answered, so she kept walking. 

She ended up going to the kitchen to see if that was where the medicine was. But after twenty minutes of searching, she couldn’t find anything. So she decided to go down to the Batcave. It was a bit difficult as she didn’t completely remember where any of the entrances were. After some time though, she was able to locate the door and made her way down. It didn’t take long before she started hearing voices, but it was difficult to make out what they were saying. It was only when she reached the bottom of the stairs that she heard what they were talking about.

“Joker wasn’t the one who killed you. It was Mary.”


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this took a while, I'm kind of in a writer's block right now. I know what I want to happen, but it's hard to write it. Thank you for being patient.

“What do you mean she killed me Harley?” Jason asked quietly. 

It was the first thing anyone said in a span of five minutes. No one could really believe that the little girl that Jason loved so much was capable of killing him.

“You have to remember,” Harley said, “that she wasn’t aware of what was happening. Joker did the same thing to me and I had so many regrets.”

Ivy reached over and grabbed Harley’s hand.

“It’ll be okay,” she said. “It’s in the past now.”

“It’s the acid. It messes with your mind. Makes your view of things warped, if that makes any sense,” Harley said. “But one day, you almost succeeded in getting Mary out of there. And that was when Joker realized that you were a nuisance. That you would come back no matter what, no matter how many times you were hurt.So Joker did the one thing that he knew would break Mary and you.”

“He made her kill me,” Jason whispered. 

“And she succeeded. But I couldn’t bare to see her that way,” Harley continued, tears in her eyes. “She was such a sweet girl. She didn’t treat me like I was Joker’s plaything. She treated me like I was meant to be respected. I had to get her out of there.”

“But the reports said that she wasn’t found until after -”

“It was difficult. Not only was I trying to get her back to herself, but I was fighting myself as well. It was so hard to realize that Joker didn’t truly love me. Even if I knew it was true, the acid kept trying to come back,” Harley answered. “It also took some serious detailing. Where we’d go, what we’d do. In the end, we barely made it out. Joker was mad that she had escaped, so I knew I couldn’t keep her around. So I dropped her off at the police station and made sure that she left Gotham. I never expected her to come back.”

“She doesn’t remember anything about Gotham,” Jason said. “She only remembers her life before Joker, if she’s telling us the truth. She’s not the same as she was before. She’s more scared, and worried. Like she’s always running away from something.”

“Mary probably doesn’t remember, or she’s doing it on instinct. Something is telling her to run away,” Harley said. 

“Are you alright Jason?” Bruce asked gently. He knew how much the little girl meant to him.

“It doesn’t matter,” he responded. “No matter what she did in the past, or what she may or may not be hiding from me, she’s my little sister. I lost her once. I’m not going to lose her again.”

“You’re not going to leave me?”

~

Marinette didn’t know what to do as she listened in on the conversation. She didn’t remember anything of what Harley was talking about. But what she said made sense with the pictures she drew. But she didn’t want to believe it. 

“Are you alright Jason?” Bruce asked.

Marinette listened closely, wanting to know her brother’s response. She didn’t know what she would do if he was mad at her. She didn’t think she could handle it if he hated her too.

“It doesn’t matter. No matter what she did in the past, or what she mar or mar not be hiding from me, she’s my little sister. I lost her once. I’m not going to lose her again.”

She didn’t know what caused her to do it, but she didn’t regret it when she opened the door.

“You’re not going to leave me?” she asked quietly, not sure if she even said it. She was surprised when they all turned to look at her. She noticed the two females sitting at the table, one of them with tears in her eyes.

“I would never leave you. Not if I had the choice,” Jason said, walking over and giving her a hug. “I’m a parasite. I’m stuck with you and hard to get rid of.”

Marinette giggled at the reference. 

“But, if what she said was true then I was the -”

“It doesn’t matter. I’d rather you kill me than Joker. I’d take death from you a hundred times if it means being you with,” Jason said.

“Mary? Is that you?” Harley asked. 

“Marinette. I go by Marinette now,” she responded. “And yes, but I don’t remember -”

Marinette gasped as a sharp pain shot through her head, making her lose her balance, but luckily Jason was there to catch her. 

**

“Are you alright sugar?” 

“It hurts. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“I know. Just hold on for a little bit longer, alright?”

“I don’t want to see Jason hurt anymore. Why does he make me do that?”

“I’m not sure, but I need you to keep fighting. Can you do that for me? Can you fight the voice inside your head?”

“Y-yes. But it hurts. I don’t like doing it.”

“I know sugar. It hurts a lot, doesn’t it? It hurts me too. But I promise that I’ll get you out of here. You just need to wait a little longer.”

“Okay. I believe in you -”

**

“Auntie Harley?” Marinette whispered. 

Harley didn’t wait and rushed over to give Marinette a hug. 

“I’ve missed you so much sugar,” she said. “I thought about you each and every day. I prayed that you were safe.”

“I don’t remember anything,” Marinette said. “About what you just said. Was it all true?”

“I’m not surprised,” Harley sighed. “The acid, it messes with your mind. Makes you forget all the bad things and warped it into something that’s completely different. It should have worn off by now, but I guess the experience was so traumatic that you still don’t remember anything.”

Marinette started to cry, and no one really knew what to do. Harley and Ivy learned not to cry as it made them look weak, especially in the hero/villain world. While the Batboys didn’t have much experience with a girl crying in front of them unless it was when they turned down some love confessions.

Surprisingly, it was Damian who walked up to her and started to console her.

“Are you alright? What’s wrong?” he asked, rubbing circles on her back. 

“It’s-it’s nothing,” she said, wiping her tears away. “I just- they’re happy tears. I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. If anything, you’re probably the most normal person here,” Damian said, leading her over to a chair so she could sit down. “I mean, you cry. And you show emotion other than anger and hate.”

“Thanks Damian,” she said, giving him a small smile. 

“Why don’t you come with me sugar? I’d love to hear about everything that’s happened to you since you left,” Harley said, leading the short girl off to the actual house. Ivy didn’t say anything, but shot Damian a knowing look before following after them. 

“I think you and I need to have a talk,” Jason said. 

Damian would never admit it, but he shivered when he heard that.


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I haven't written Adrien in such a long time I kept thinking I spelled it wrong.

Damian winced as he sat down in his car seat, his backside still a little sore from the training session with Jason last night. 

“Are you alright?” Marinette asked, unaware of the torture he went through.

“Yeah. Just, a sparring session gone wrong,” he replied. “Did you finish your homework assignments?”

“Yeah. But can you turn it in for me? I’m not attending classes today,” she answered, pulling it out from her bag. 

“What? Why not?”

“Um, we were scheduled to take a tour of Gotham University. I heard it’s supposed to be one of the most prestigious colleges in all of America,” Marinette replied. 

“I don’t like the idea of you being there with your class,” Damian frowned. “Not if you’re alone.”

“I’ll be alright. The rest of the class are probably shaken up from yesterday. I don’t think they’ll do anything,” Marinette said, smiling. 

Damian had no idea how she was able to be so optimistic all the time. 

“Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to make it your fault.”

“Oh, they probably will. Especially if Lila has anything to do with it,” she shrugged. “But I think the fear will make it so that they won’t get close to me. And I’m fine with that. Oh! I want to thank you.”

“For what?” 

“You comforted me yesterday. I know Jason gets uncomfortable with crying. Even when we were younger when I was crying he’d just sit next to me awkwardly. The company was nice, but sometimes I wished that he’d given me a hug, or a pat. Sometimes, a warming touch can do much more than comfort,” Marinette said. “I know it was kind of out of your element as well, but you still did your best.”

They pulled up to the school, and Marinette was surprised to see it was so full of students.

“You don’t let villains affect school, huh?” she said.

“Not really. I guess we’ve just gotten used to it by now,” Damian shrugged. 

“Marinette!” 

The two of them turned to see Adrien walking over. He had a worried look on his face, whether it was from yesterday, or from the rest of the class glaring at him as he made his way over to her.

“Are you alright? You just disappeared yesterday,” Adrien asked. “And you didn’t answer any of my texts or calls.”

Marinette pulled out her phone and winced when she saw the number of missed calls and unanswered texts.

“I’m sorry. I had a rough day yesterday,” she said, lowering her head.

“Don’t worry, I understand. After all, you were threatened by a villain and held at gunpoint,” he said. 

“How’s the rest of the class?” 

“Not that you should care since they’re so mean to you, but they’re fine. Blaming you, but they’re fine,” Adrien responded. 

“How did they manage that?” Damian frowned.

“Something about how if she didn’t get close to you than Two Face wouldn’t have been interested and come to the school,” Adrien shrugged. “Something stupid.”

“Whatever. Let’s go Adrien,” Marinette said. “Bye Damian. Thanks for the ride.”

Damian watched as the two of them made their way over to a bus before heading inside the school.

~

“You seem a lot happier,” Adrien said. 

The two of them were sitting in the back of the bus, away from the other students. They chose the seats as no one would be able to listen in on their conversation, and they would be able to prepare themselves for any confrontations.

“I am,” Marinette replied. She turned to look at him. “Thank you.”

“Do you think that...your happiness is because of your number?”

“I think that it’s part of the reason. I’m not scared of being a zero anymore. But I think it’s more about finally having people by my side. And I know why you asked Adrien,” Marinette said quietly. “A higher number won’t make you happy. That’s kind of like how having money won’t make you happy. Sure you can buy things with it, but if you’re rich and all alone, are you truly happy?”

“Funny how you said that when that describes me,” Adrien said, giving her a small laugh. 

“You know what I mean Adrien,” Marinette said. “I know you can be happy. But for that to happen, you need to find it yourself. You need to break out of the hold your dad has on you and do things that make you happy. Not what you think will make your dad happy. Especially if it’s causing you so much pain. Tell me Adrien, what do you really want to do with your life? Are you happy being a model for the rest of your life?”

“No, but I don’t know how I’ll be able to convince my dad otherwise,” Adrien said. “It’s so difficult to talk to him sometimes.”

“Maybe I can help you,” Marinette said. “Gotham University has a foreign exchange program. Why don’t you apply to it?”

“I’m not sure my father would let me. You know how he is,” Adrien said sadly.

“That doesn’t mean we should give up. I can put in a good word with Bruce, see if he can help in any way,” Marinette offered. 

“I can’t make you do that,” Adrien frowned. 

“He won’t mind. I’m sure he’ll be glad to help. He might adopt you as well. He’s known to be a serial adopter,” Marinette joked. “We can be siblings.”

“Thanks Marinette,” Adrien said. “You know if you ever need help, I’m still here.”

“Of course I do.”

~

Marinette didn’t hesitate to pull Adrien to the main office. They were given some free time after lunch and they were both impressed with the college. 

“Can I help you with something?” the man behind the desk asked. 

“We would like to apply for the foreign exchange program. To preapply,” Marinette said. 

“Are you even old enough?” the man scoffed.

“We are in our graduating years of high school, and planning to apply to colleges soon, so yes. We are,” Marinette replied. She pulled out her student ID. “Here.”

The man looked over her ID and said something under his breath that she couldn’t understand.

“Here.” He handed them two clipboards and pencils. “Fill these out and -”

“Marinette? What are you doing here?” 

They all looked over to see a sleep deprived Tim sitting in one of the waiting chairs. 

“I didn’t know you were in school,” Marinette said, giving him a smile. “Adrien and I are applying for the foreign exchange program.”

“Why are you applying for it?” Tim frowned. He took a sip of coffee before continuing on. “You’re native born and you’re a citizen here. You can just apply normally. Or at least apply through Bruce’s program.”

“Bruce has a program?” Adrien asked. “I’m Adrien by the way.”

“Tim, nice to meet you. And yeah, he started one when he saw how many students become homeless after high school. Made it easier for students to get into college and also has some scholarships set up. Not to mention that he started a community college for those that were too poor even with the scholarship,” Tim said. “Seeing as how you’re part of the family, I say just apply regularly.”

“Thanks for the information,” Marinette said. “Are you okay though? You seem like you’re going to pass out soon.”

“Yeah, just needed to take a break before heading out to the car with Alfred. I think he’s waiting for me,” Tim said, yawning.

“Do you want some help? I’m heading back there as well. My class was going to go back to the hotel after lunch,” Marinette offered.

“Sure of course.”

“Adrien, do you want to come? I’d like for you to meet my brother properly this time.”

“Are you sure? It’s kind of last minute,” Adrien said, hesitant.

“I’m sure. After all, we need to talk about you becoming a part of the family too!” Marinette giggled.

“Wait, what?”


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

“Hi Alfred. Do you mind if I bring Adrien over for dinner?” Marinette asked, smiling at the older man.

“Of course not, Miss Marinette. The more the merrier,” he responded. “But make sure to tell your teacher. I’m sure she would appreciate you telling her that the two of you are safe.”

“Of course,” Marinette replied, pulling out her phone. She sent a quick text to Ms. Bustier who responded back that it was fine and if Adrien was going to stay over then to let her know. “We’re good.”

“Are you sure that it’s fine?” Adrien asked, worried.

“Worry not Mister Adrien, it is no hassle to make an extra plate for dinner,” Alfred reassured. “Besides, I’m sure the others would love to meet friends of Marinette.”

“Oh, and um, is Tim alright?” Marinette asked worriedly, looking over to the sleeping man. He was slumped over in his seat, his cup of coffee still clutched in his hands.

“Perfectly fine,” Alfred said. “College life is not easy, especially in the nighttime.”

Marinette nodded as she realized it was due to the fact of Tim staying up at night for patrol and balancing school work at the same time. 

“Does he stay up late to study? I knew college was hard, but didn’t realize how much sleep a person loses because of it,” Adrien said, giving Tim a sad look.

“It’s not like you get a lot of sleep either,” Marinette frowned. “When was the last time you slept through the night. Before coming to Gotham?”

Adrien didn’t answer which was enough for Marinette. 

“I have no idea how you’re able to tower over me when you don’t sleep or eat properly,” Marinette complained.

“It’s because you’re packed with cuteness,” Adrien laughed. “If you were tall you wouldn’t be as cute as you are now.”

Marinette turned red and didn’t make eye contact, which Adrien found even funnier. 

“Are you turning red on me?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. “If anything, it’s all in your genes. Although comparing you to Jason, I’d say you got the short end of the stick. Literally.”

“I don’t like you,” Marinette grumbled. 

“No you don’t,” Adrien laughed. “We both know that you don’t hate me. If fact, you -”

“Shut. Up,” Marinette growled, shooting her friend a dirty look. ‘We agreed to never talk about that again.”

“I never agreed to anything. You just came to that conclusion on your own when I stopped talking about it,” Adrien said. “Besides, I think it was cute.”

“I’m telling her,” Marinette said. She smiled when she saw how pale Adrien got.

“No. You wouldn’t-”

“I would. We both know I would. I wonder how she’d react when she realizes that you’ve been teasing me,” Marinette threatened.

“I’m sorry!” Adrien yelled. “I won’t do it again! Don’t tell her!”

Marinette laughed at his fear, but promised not to tell.

“We have arrived,” Alfred announced. 

They looked out the window and sure enough, they were at Wayne Manor. 

“Do you need any help with cooking?” Marinette asked, a little guilty that she forgot he was there.

“Of course not, but that you for the offer,” Alfred replied. “But you may make dessert if you wish. I know that your foster mother used to own a bakery.”

“I would love that,” Marinette smiled. “Thank you.”

The two of them got out of the car and dragged Tim out as well, each of them supporting him from either side. 

“What do you think you’re doing Tim? Hanging all over my sister like that?” Jason asked, opening the door and glaring at the sleep deprived male. 

Tim didn’t answer but let out a string of unintelligible words.

“It’s alright Jason. He’s tired after all,” Marinette assured him. She soon regretted that as she started to break under his weight.

She didn’t have the chance to fall as Jason saw what was happening and threw Tim off of her and into the bushes. 

“Are you alright? I knew you wouldn’t have been able to handle all that weight! I know Tim looks like a scrawny little shrimp, but it’s actually all muscle!” Jason said, looking her over to make sure she’s alright.

“I’m fine, but is Tim?” she asked, looking in the bushes to see if she could find him. 

“He’s fine, don’t worry about him,” Jason said, not really caring. He paused when he noticed Adrien standing there, looking shocked. “Oh, sup. Adrien, right?”

“Y-yeah. And you’re Jason. Nice to meet you again,” he said, feeling a little awkward just standing there. 

“Why don’t you come in? It’s awkward just standing here and talking,” Jason said, starting to walk into the house.

“Wait, Tim-”

“It’s fine. It’s not the weirdest place he’s fallen asleep in,” Jason assured.

“But he didn’t fall asleep there! You threw him there!” Marinette complained. 

“He’s not complaining,” Jason replied. “It’s fine. It if was that bad then he would have woken up.”

“But-”

“Miss Marinette, I will deal with him,” Alfred said, walking up to them. “Why don’t you start on dessert? I’m sure that with Jason helping you it will take quite some time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason complained.

“Do I need to remind you of the time the -”

“Nope. Never mind,” he said, walking away from the conversation.

Marinette giggled and led Adrien into the kitchen. She also didn’t forget to hand him a map, knowing that he would get lost. Not as much as she did, but enough that he wouldn’t be able to find his way out. 

“Any requests?” Marinette asked, turning to look at Adrien. 

“Macarons,” Adrien said instantly. “I haven’t had them in forever.”

“They were the class’s favorite too,” Marinette said quietly. “It didn’t feel right making them since-”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Adrien said. “I’m just as happy with any other dessert-”

“It’s fine. They’re Jason’s favorite as well,” Marinette said.

“You remembered?” he asked, secretly happy.

“Of course. You made me stay up late to watch the cooking shows so you could learn,” she said.

“Whenever we asked how she made them so delicious, she’d say it was because she kept practicing so that one day someone special could eat them,” Adrien said. “I didn’t realize that it was for you. It’s one of my favorites too, because of her.”

“So you’re telling me that you’ve been eating the macarons made for me?” Jason asked, glaring at the younger boy.

“Wait, wha-”

“You’ve been stealing my macarons all these years. I’d like some repayment.”

“Jason, if you’re going to scare off my friend, I won’t make any for you,” Marinette threatened.

“WHAT? BUT-”

“No buts. Now apologize to him. You’re being mean,” Marinette said. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason muttered. 

“Apologize to him properly.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said louder, making eye contact with the blonde male. 

“It’s alright,” Adrien laughed. “I know how Marinette gets. Especially when it comes to food.”

“You know what? Both of you, out. Get out of my kitchen. I’m cooking alone today,” Marinette said, pointing at the door. 

“What did we do wrong?”

“You’re annoying. And the macarons won’t come out good if you’re annoying me,” Marinette answered. “Now leave.”

The two boys stared at her in shock, but when she didn’t back down they both left, sad looks on their faces.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, long time no see guys. Sorry for not updating recently, since the whole coronavirus stuff happened, they canceled a week of class at my college right before spring break. And since spring break is over, they doubled up the work, so it was two weeks worth of work in one week. Including Zoom lectures, two midterms, one test, three quizzes, two essays and a lot of homework assignment. But I'm back, so here's the story.   
> P.S it's a little shorter than usual cause I thought I'd be best if I just ended it there.

“So, you’ve known Nettie for how long?” Jason asked, looking the boy up and down. 

After being thrown out of the kitchen, they settled down in the living room right beside it. Adrien was a little uncomfortable without Marinette, especially with the way Jason was staring at him.

“About five years?” he replied hesitantly. “We met when we were about thirteen.”

Jason leaned back into the couch and let out a sigh.

“I’m not trying to scare you kid. Nettie didn’t tell us the full version of what happened between her and her classmates. Keeps downplaying it. I just want to know what actually happened,” Jason assured. 

“I’m not sure what Marinette told you, but it’s the truth. But she probably didn’t tell you about the attacks, right?”

“I kinda figured it out, but she never went into detail,” Jason answered. 

“They were small, at first. A small shove, sticking their legs out to trip her,” Adrien said sadly. “Marinette didn’t fight back. She would laugh it off, saying they were accidents. But then they started to do a lot worse. They’d steal her homework so she’d get bad marks, they’d give her negative reviews on her website, making her shut it down due to lack of customers. She started working through connections only.”

“Her website?” Jason asked, confused. 

“Oh, um, I’m not sure if I should be the one to tell you, but Marinette is MDC. That super popular fashion designer? No one knows her identity? Personal fashion designer for Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale,” Adrien said.

“Wait, she’s MDC?” 

“Yeah, she doesn’t really like the spotlight though, which is why she never revealed herself.”

“Don’t tell anyone in this house that,” Jason warned. “Tim is obsessed with her and has been trying to find out her identity for who knows how long. And the others can’t keep a secret.”

“Of course,” Adrien said, nodded. “I understand what that feels like. I’m a model for my father’s company and it’s not exactly something I’d see myself doing in the future.”

They sat silently, not knowing what to say next. They each wanted to say something but not sure what. Jason only knew about guns and fighting. Adrien only knew about the extracurricular activities his father makes him do. Not that either of them knew it. 

Luckily for them, Jason got a text and rushed out of the room, yelling something about an emergency as he left. Adrien blinked, not really sure what was happening. He stood up and looked down the hall where Jason ran down, only to see no one. He then made his way to the kitchen to ask Marinette about it.

“Um, Jason said something about an emergency?” Adrien said, answering Marinette’s unanswered question. 

Marinette shook her head and sighed. 

“Have a seat,” she said, pulling out a stool for him to sit on. “Talk about anything important?”

“Just about life back in Paris,” Adrien replied. Adrien thought carefully before asking the next question. “Why didn’t you tell him about what really happened in Paris?”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal. The class can’t touch me here. And Bruce said that he’s going to try and keep me here,” Marinette said, giving him a small smile. 

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Adrien said. 

Marinette flinched and she hid her arms. She let out a shuddering breath and gave Adrien a pained smile.

“You know I don’t like talking about that,” she said quietly. 

“Isn’t that exactly why you should tell him?” Adrien asked. “After all, he’s your brother. He deserves to know.”

“I’d rather not-”

“Marinette, I know why you don’t want to tell him. I don’t understand why you think that you’d be a burden to him. He’s your family. He would never think that. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, how he treats you. He probably thinks that you getting an accidental paper cut is the same as you cutting yourself,” Adrien pointed out. “He’ll be mad that he couldn’t do anything to stop it, but he would never think that you are a burden. You once told me to love myself, so why can’t you do the same?”

“I’ve hurt too many people Adrien,” Marinette said, giving him a sad smile. “I can’t forgive myself knowing what I’ve done. I don’t really remember, but after talking to someone I used to know before I moved to Paris, I realized how many people I’ve hurt. All the bad things I’ve done. They can’t be forgiven. I can’t love myself after finding out everything I’ve done, so I love others instead. So that they won’t make the same mistakes that I made.”

“But don’t you think that’s why you should love yourself?” Adrien said. “You can help others love themselves, but what’s the point when they realize that you don’t. I’m not going to lie, you have helped me, but think about how much more you could do if you started to love yourself again. You’ll be happier, more positive - “

“So you want me to go back to how I was before?” Marinette asked.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Adrien stressed. “I’m saying that you would be better off. Yes, it’s difficult to move on, to forgive yourself for the mistakes that you’ve made. It’s difficult to accept your shortcomings, but that’s what makes us human. We don’t give up, we keep trying and trying until we get it. If you start to love yourself again, you’ll realize how much you’ve changed. You can’t see it where you are now, but I can see it. You’re not the same Marinette who used to stutter around me or freak out. You’ve changed for the better, even if you don’t think so.”

“You’re wrong, Adrien. I haven’t changed for the better. I just grew up and saw the world for what it truly was. And let me warn you before you experience it firsthand. Life is shit,” Marinette said.


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

Alfred knew something had happened when he walked into the kitchen to check on the two children. Everyone else had gone as there was an attack somewhere in the city. So when he walked in and noticed the tense atmosphere despite the two of them working together, he wondered what had happened. The two seemed to get along well earlier. 

“Miss Marinette,” he said, getting their attention. “Master Wayne and the others have gone back into the city for an emergency. Dinner will be delayed until then.”

“Thank you for telling me Alfred,” she replied. “Adrien and I will finish up here and...I’ll show him my room.”

“Of course. Do not hesitate to ask for help,” Alfred said before leaving them.

“He seems nice,” Adrien said quietly. 

“According to Damian, he’s the only reason why the house hasn’t burned down yet,” Marinette chuckled. 

“So, Damian, huh?”

“What about him?” Marinette frowned. 

Adrien didn’t answer her, but gave her a look. One that seemed familiar, like someone gave it to her before, but she couldn’t remember what it meant. 

She frowned back before Adrien rolled his eyes.

“He seems pretty nice, at least to you, don’t you think?” 

“I mean, he had to grow up with Jason,” Marinette shrugged. “I’m surprised he’s acting cordially to anyone.”

Adrien chuckled. “He can’t be that bad. After all, you grew up with him. But from what I’ve heard he doesn’t talk to anyone. Except Jon. His nickname is the Ice Prince, and I can kinda see why. Cold to people, silent, brooding type. Seems like the perfect fit.”

“Reminds me of your dad,” Marinette said. She instantly regretted it when Adrien froze. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said-”

“No. It’s alright. After all, just one more year and I’m finally free, right?”

“One more year,” Marinette said quietly. “Just one more left.”

“That goes for both of us, don’t you think?” Adrien asked. “One more year for you too.”

“I don’t think that applies to me anymore. We may be escaping our lives back in Paris, but...I think I found a shortcut,” Marinette giggled. 

“That’s cheating,” Adrien scoffed, pretending to be angry. “You can’t leave me behind. We’re partners!”

“Of course not. No matter how many shortcuts or boosts I get, I won’t leave you behind. We’re in this game til the end.”

“Oooh, what game are you talking about?” 

The two of them turned and watched as Tim staggered his way over to the counter. His eyes were barely open, squinting at the bright lights. Once he made his way to the counter, he patted around, as if trying to look for something. Marinette squealed and quickly pulled one of the pans away, not wanting him to burn himself.

“Are you looking for something?” Adrien asked, confused. 

“Coffee,” Tim moaned. 

“Tim, how much sleep did you get last night?” Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s sleep?”

Marinette rolled her eyes and started to pull out ingredients from the fridge. Adrien frowned until he realized what she was going to make. She completed the drink within a few minutes and placed it in front of Tim.

“It’s not coffee, but it’ll work just the way it’s intended to,” Marinette said. 

Tim didn’t hesitate and gulped it down. He thanked her and left the kitchen. Marinette silently counted to three before they heard a thud behind the door. 

“Out like a light,” she said. 

“You’re just going to leave him there?” Adrien asked. 

“Yep. I doubt the two of us can carry him back to his room. He may not look like it, but he’s all muscle,” Marinette said. “Kinda like you. You’re both scrawny and look tiny, but we both know that’s not true. Plus, his room is the furthest away. We wouldn’t even make it halfway there before I give up.”

Adrien frowned. 

“I forgot how tiny you are,” he muttered. He reached out and grabbed her arm, sighing when he saw how small her wrist was in his hand. “Have you been eating correctly?”

“I’ve been...getting better,” she replied, pulling her arm back and looking away.

Adrien sighed. 

“And have you been sleeping correctly?” 

“More than Tim?” She wasn’t going to tell him about the sleepless nights she’s had. While she’s been napping during the day to make up for it, it still wasn’t enough for it to be a decent sleep. 

“You know you can’t catch up on missed sleep, right?” Adrien asked. “Even if you sleep longer the next time, it doesn’t help.”

“It’s just...the voice won’t stop,” Marinette said quietly. 

It wasn’t a lie. Though she hadn’t heard it lately, that didn’t mean it was gone. It was waiting, patiently biding it’s time until the moment was right. Which made it worse. 

“I won’t push you any further,” Adrien said. “But you need to take care of yourself, alright? I won’t be here all the time to nag you.”

“Of course, mom,” Marinette joked. “C’mon, we need to finish so we can start on the assignment Miss Bustier gave us. It’s due tomorrow and I bet that you haven’t even started yet.”

“I work best under pressure!” Adrien said, feeling a bit betrayed at her accusation. 

“That’s called procrastination,” Marinette pointed out. “I don’t know how you’re passing since that’s all you do. Do you remember that one time you got the due date wrong?”

“Don’t remind me about that,” Adrien groaned. 

“You called me in such a panic I thought you died or something. But you just asked for help,” Marinette giggled. 

“Yet that was my highest scored essay that entire year.”

“Whatever. Just stick these in the fridge and I’ll show you to my room. I have some things to finish as well.”

~

“This is horrible,” Adrien groaned, leaning against his desk.

Marinette giggled as she typed something out on her laptop. 

“You can’t just give up. You barely even started.”

“That’s exactly why I should give up. Because I’ve barely done anything. It’d be worse if I was halfway done. What are you working on anyway?”

“I got another commission. Just confirming all the details and stuff,” Marinette answered. 

“You’re doing commissions again?” Adrien asked. “That’s good.”

“Yeah. Mr. Clark, the journalist from Metropolis is attending the Wayne Gala and wants a suit,” Marinette said. “He just sent in his measurements.”

“You think you have time for another suit?” Adrien asked.

Marinette didn’t reply, trying to process the information before she blinked and turned to him.

“You want one? But your dad-”

“Can’t do anything. Besides, I’m sure he’d rather have me go in a good suit rather than tshirt and jeans,” Adrien said. 

“Are you trying to send him a big F U by doing this?” 

“Was I that obvious?” Adrien became sheepish, not sure how Marinette would react.

“Adrien, I’m not going to make you a suit so you can basically tell you dad to fuck off,” Marinette replied, pulling out her sketchbook and started to draw down some ideas.. “I’m going to make it so that your father regrets everything that he’s done to you. We’re gonna screw him over. Him and that damned company. By the time you show up at the gala, everyone’s going to say how much better you look in an MDC original rather than an Agreste. He’ll be made a laughingstock.”

“I forgot how scary you are when it comes to my father,” Adrien whispered.

“Only for you,” Marinette said, giving him a smile.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

“So, you want to tell me why I had to drag Marinette out of her room to eat dinner?” Jason asked, looking at Adrien.

“She gets like that when she’s very determined on something,” Adrien shrugged. He looked over at Marinette who was shoveling food down her mouth with one hand and sketching out designs with the other. “Right now, she’s trying to make a fool out of my dad.”

“Do I want to know why?” Bruce asked, leaning forward to hear more of the conversation.

“My dad’s not the easiest person to get along with,” Adrien replied. 

Marinette scoffed. “I’m going to ruin him. He’s going to regret everything he’s ever done. When I’m through with him, he’s going to come back begging on his knees for your forgiveness.”

“And may I ask what it is that he’s done?” 

Marinette looked up at Adrien. “Do you not see him? He all sticks and bones. He’s not getting nutrients he needs, he is forced to work at ungodly hours just to make it to school, not to mention all the activities Gabriel has forced him to do. Not to mention that he’s literally condoning the sexual harassment.”

“Wait, WHAT?”

“I swear, if I ever see Gabrial Agreste or Lila by themselves…” Marinette didn’t finish the sentence, letting it die off, but Adrien knew her well enough that he shivered. 

“Looks like she did grow up with Jason after all,” Damian commented. “Otherwise she wouldn’t have let a threat hang off like that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason frowned. 

“When you threaten someone, you usually let it die off because you don’t have a plan yet, but also because it instills fear in the other person,” Damian answered.

“Um, do you threaten people on a daily basis?” Adrien asked.

“Working in a company as big as Wayne Corp. especially in Gotham, you’re going to get some shady businesses working with you,” Bruce answered. “So we need to learn how to...communicate with them differently.”

“Wait a minute, has anyone seen Tim lately?” Dick asked. 

“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Marinette said. “He’s sleeping somewhere in the house. Won’t be up for another day or so.”

“How’d you do that?” 

“Let’s just say I’m a witch like I am a pokemon,” Marinette answered. 

“So you’re not just a one trick pony,” Dick said, leaning back in his chair. “What other secrets are you hiding from us?”

“They aren’t secrets if you know them. Besides, it’s not fun if I just tell you. I need to do it when you’re least expecting it.”

“Well, why don’t you shove him your moves Nettie?” Jason asked, a glint in his eye. “I’m sure that’s one secret he should know about.”

“Are you sure?” Marinette frowned. “It doesn’t seem like the right time for it.”

“Wait, what moves are you talking about? Like, dance mo- YO, WHAT THE FUCK!” Dick yanked his hand back seconds after a knife embedded itself in the table, centimeters away from his fingers.

“I’m getting rusty,” Marinette muttered, yanking the knife back out. “Gotta practice my aim some more.”

“What do you mean you have to practice your aim? Were you actually trying to cut my fingers off?”

“No, I was trying to get the blade right where your fingers were so that it touched, but didn’t do any harm,” Marinette replied. 

“You don’t seem all that shocked Adrien. Care to tell us why?” Jason asked.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of a pissed off Marinette. It doesn’t happen a lot and when it does then I know nothing good is going to happen. It’s...a different side of her that I’m not used to seeing, but it’s better than when she listens to the voice,” Adrien answered. 

“What voice?”

Everyone noticed how both Adrien and Marinette froze, but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, you know, like the TV show? The Voice with all the singing...and stuff?”

They all knew he was lying, but gave him props for coming up with a lie so fast.

“Anyway, I heard from Tim that you were going to apply for college here?” Bruce said. 

“Ah yes. I wanted to stay in Gotham with Jason, and I thought it would be best if Adrien applied out of the country where his father has less influence,” Marinette answered. 

“Well, knowing how strict the Paris education system is, I’m sure you won’t have a hard time with applications. If you’d like Adrien, we can set up a room for you here as well. That way you won’t be too uncomfortable in one of the most dangerous cities,” Bruce offered.

“That’s too much. I can’t abuse your kindness like that,” Adrien declined. 

“Would you rather live in a sad apartment by yourself in a dangerous city?” Marinette asked. “Not to mention that street thugs will go after you since you basically radiate rich.”

“I do not -”

“Adrien, the first time I asked you to borrow some lunch money you gave me a hundred. And when I looked at you in shock you gave me five hundred more,” Marinette deadpanned. 

“That was one-”

“And for my birthday you gave me a Louis Vuitton pencil case.”

“I wasn’t sure-”

“You bought Alya a new camera and microphone.”

“I was trying to-”

“You bought Nino a new DJ set.”

“He’s my best-”

“You bought Chloe a hotel. The one she currently lives in. And don’t think I don’t know. There’s no way a mayor makes that much money to have a hotel,” Marinette said, raising an eyebrow. 

“So you said you’d help accommodate me?”


	27. Author's Note

I'm sorry to say this but this story is going on hiatus. I know where the story is supposed to go, what the ending is, but I'm having trouble writing the in between moments. The moments that lead up to it. So I'm putting this story on pause to try and write it out. It's going to take some time so while I will update, it won't be consistent. But due to that, the chapters will probably become longer. I hope you understand. Thank you.


	28. Chapter I don't even know anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bromance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right. I'M BACK. DID YOU MISS ME?!?!?! Kinda. I've started writing another batman crossover for another show/anime, which is why I started writing this one again. I thought of some ideas when I wrote the other one. I'm not sure how often this one will get updated though, it still might take some time. Also found out one of the MLB writers? producers? has a tiktok on accident. I know times are weird what now with covid and the riots (if you're in the U.S), so stay safe. c:
> 
> Also it's been a while since I've last written for this story, and I didn't look back at any of my old chapters. Remember, this is tagged with no beta we die like men. And that is what I shall do.

“Marinette? What’s wrong?” 

Jason looked over and frowned when he noticed the look on his sister’s face. She looked out of it, like she was high. But he knew his sister. She would never do something like that. 

Adrien was sitting next to her when he noticed she had spaced out. 

“Did she do this a lot when she was in Paris?” Jason asked, walking over to where the two teens were sitting.

“No. I’ve never seen her like this before,” Adrien replied. 

Jason knelt down in front of his sister.

“Nettie? You alright?” he asked softly. He expected more silence, or even a confused huh. What he didn’t expect was laughter. Full, blown out laughter. It started off small, a quiet giggle. But then it became louder, the volume steadily increasing. It didn’t sound normal either, it sounded maniacal.

“He’s coming,” Marinette said in a singsong voice. “He’s coming for me. He’s coming for all of us. And he won’t stop until he gets what he wants.”

She let out another cackle before slumping over, seeming that she fell asleep.

“I’m going to go call a doctor,” Jason said, frowning. “Watch over her and see if anything else happens.”

Adrien nodded and looked back at his friend. He sighed. He knew that Marinette had her secrets, but he was a little disheartened that while he considered himself her friend, it was like he barely knew her.

He winced when his phone played his loud ringtone. The custom one he put for his father. He debated on whether he should pick up or not, but decided that he should. He didn’t want to make his father mad.

“Hello father,” Adrien greeted. 

“Adrien. Why are you 12 miles out of Gotham? I don’t remember seeing anything about going out of the city in the itinerary,” Gabriel asked. 

“One of my classmates, Damian Wayne, invited me over. His father, Bruce Wayne, was interested in commissioning you for work and wanted to have a chat,” Adrien lied. “By the time we finished talking during dinner, they didn’t want to send me home so late at night.”

“I see. Very well then. But next time make sure to notify me before you make any rash decisions.”

Adrien didn’t get a chance to respond before his father hung up.

“Sounds like a tough parent.”

Adrien looked up to see Damian walking in.

“Tell me about it,” he sighed.

“I know what it feels like,” Damian said. “My mother is not as generous as my father. In fact, they are complete opposites.”

“Is that why you live with your father?” Adrien asked. Then he winced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. That’s personal.”

“It’s fine. With my three brothers there’s nothing private in this house. Once they want to know something, they’ll do anything to find out,” Damian sighed. “And my mother sent me to live here in Gotham when her past caught up to her. It was different, and awkward at first, but I love it here. Which is why I stayed.”

“At least you’re happy now. I have to wait until college. And that’s only if I can sneak away,” Adrien said, sadly. 

“If you want, I’m sure father’s lawyers can help you,’ Damian offered.

“It’s fine. Marinette has a plan. Not sure if it’ll work for sure, but I trust her. I’m very lucky to be her friend,” Adrien stated. He reached over and brushed her bangs aside, looking at the large number. “It’s nice to see that she’s finally being loved again.”

“If you don’t mind asking, why isn’t your number a part of it as well?” Damian asked.

“I was forced into saying it,” Adrien confessed. “Lila, she can manipulate people very well. My father included. That’s how she has a modelling job with him. I don’t know how he can control every aspect of my life, and yet can’t tell what a liar looks like.”

“My offer still stands,” Damian reminded him.

“Thanks. Also, I’m not sure what exactly your feelings are for her, but...don’t hurt her, alright? She’s had a rough life so far and I don’t want her getting hurt anymore than she already has,” Adrien warned. “She’s too good for any of us. Did you know that while she was getting bullied and attacked, she still did everything that she could to help us?”

“Seems like she’s the type of person that Gotham needs,” Damian commented.

“She’s a good person. Sometimes I think that I don’t deserve her as a friend. That I’m not good enough for her. But everytime I think that, she proves to me that I’m more than what I think of myself. So that’s why I want you to take care of her,” Adrien explained. “Because I’m not good enough. I can’t help her at all. The only thing I can do is help her through it. But she needs someone to help her fight back and take some blows for her.”

“And you think that I can do it?” 

“I know you can. I’ve seen how you look at her and how you’ve taken care of her. Plus if you don’t take care of her, I’m pretty sure Jason would kill you,” Adrien joked. “And I would help.”

“I think the rest of the family would help out as well,” Damian huffed. “They all love her. It’s like we’ve known her for years despite just meeting her.”

“Then I think that this is where she belongs. Not Paris, but here. Two of our other friends will miss her, but after they see her being so happy here, they’ll understand.”

“Thank you, for trusting me.”

“Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn’t. When I can’t,” Adrien said.

Neither of them would say it but they formed a special kind of friendship that day. And it was all thanks to Marinette.


End file.
